Ravens

kildare lad

Yesterday i threw out some chicken and bread to the crows out the front of my house. I normally get magpies, grey crows , crows and jackdaws down to the food and it does be gone in no time. But yesterday a single raven came down. I couldnt get over the size of the bird, it was amazing looking. Ive never seen one in my garden before, or maybe i never noticed them. Whats the story with ravens, are they as common as crows, or are they more of a solitary bird. Thanks

OpenYourEyes

They're much rarer than Magpies, Hooded Crows, Rooks or Jackdaws but are becoming increasingly common. They're increase in recent years is probably at least partly down to the banning of indiscriminate poisons in the Irish countryside. A fantastic bird, and it must have been really great to see one that close - and in the garden too!

kildare lad

kildare lad wrote: »

Yesterday i threw out some chicken and bread to the crows out the front of my house. I normally get magpies, grey crows , crows and jackdaws down to the food and it does be gone in no time. But yesterday a single raven came down. I couldnt get over the size of the bird, it was amazing looking. Ive never seen one in my garden before, or maybe i never noticed them. Whats the story with ravens, are they as common as crows, or are they more of a solitary bird. Thanks

Lucky you, yep they are huge allright. Only ever saw them a few times, last time in the Dublin mountains last year.

BTW and not to be rude but there are no Black Crows in Ireland as far as I know, just rooks....Last I ever read our only crow was the hooded crow (people call them the grey crow).

OpenYourEyes

The Corvidae, which includes Crows, Ravens, Rooks, Jackdaws, Jays, Magpies, Choughs and other groups are very very very very commonly referred to as the 'crow family'.

Hooded Crow, Carrion Crow, Raven, Jackdaw and Rook are all Corvus spp.

vandriver

They've been resident in Kimmage for years .


Raven

OpenYourEyes

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

The Corvidae, which includes Crows, Ravens, Rooks, Jackdaws, Jays, Magpies, Choughs and other groups are very very very very commonly referred to as the 'crow family'.

Hooded Crow, Carrion Crow, Raven, Jackdaw and Rook are all Corvus spp.

I'm not good at taxonomy but surely they can't all be lumped together, I imagine each has a sub species designation ???

i.e. Calling a Rook a Crow is a misnomer (and for all I know very annoying to rooks too ) however calling a Rook a member of the Crow family is correct.

vandriver

vandriver wrote: »

They've been resident in Kimmage for years .


Raven

Brilliant......smart cookies too by all accounts

OpenYourEyes

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm not good at taxonomy but surely they can't all be lumped together, I imagine each has a sub species designation ???

i.e. Calling a Rook a Crow is a misnomer (and for all I know very annoying to rooks too ) however calling a Rook a member of the Crow family is correct.

It's like calling a Kittiwake, a Black-headed Gull and a Herring Gull all 'Gulls' - they're all in the Gull family so it is correct. They're all in different Genuses though - i.e. Rissa, Chroicocephalus and Larus. You wouldn't say that the ones without 'Gull' in their english common name isn't a gull.

For Terns, Little Terns are in a different genus to Commons, Arctics and Roseates, and Sandwich Tern is in a different genus again! They all have 'tern' in their english common name, but that doesn't mean they're particularly closely related.

OpenYourEyes

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

It's like calling a Kittiwake, a Black-headed Gull and a Herring Gull all 'Gulls' - they're all in the Gull family so it is correct. They're all in different Genuses though - i.e. Rissa, Chroicocephalus and Larus. You wouldn't say that the ones without 'Gull' in their english common name isn't a gull.

For Terns, Little Terns are in a different genus to Commons, Arctics and Roseates, and Sandwich Tern is in a different genus again! They all have 'tern' in their english common name, but that doesn't mean they're particularly closely related.

Both I and the Rooks are glad that's cleared up.....

For ease of reference and lack of confusion I think I will only join the Tuatara fan club....:)

Cheers Open.................