A raven is any of several larger-bodied

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

species of the genus ''

Corvus ''Corvus'' is a widely distributed genus of medium-sized to large birds in the family Corvidae. It includes species commonly known as crows, ravens and Rook (bird), rooks. The species commonly encountered in Europe are the carrion crow, the hoo ...

''. These species do not form a single

taxonomic group In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "

crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifical ...

s" and "ravens", common names which are assigned to different species chiefly on the basis of their size. The largest raven species are the

common raven The common raven (''Corvus corax'') is a large all-black passerine bird. It is the most widely distributed of all corvids, found across the Northern Hemisphere. It is a raven known by many names at the subspecies level; there are at least e ...

and the

thick-billed raven The thick-billed raven (''Corvus crassirostris''), a corvid from the Horn of Africa, shares with the common raven the distinction of being the largest bird in the corvid family, and indeed the largest of the passerines. The thick-billed raven a ...

Etymology

The term "raven" originally referred to the

(''Corvus corax''), the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of the genus ''Corvus'', which has a larger distribution than any other species of ''Corvus'', ranging over much of the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

. The modern English word ''raven'' has cognates in all other

Germanic languages The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, Engli ...

, including

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

(and subsequently

modern Icelandic Icelandic (; is, íslenska, link=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken by about 314,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Iceland, where it is the national language. Due to being a West Scandinavian language, it is most closely re ...

) and

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

, all of which descend from

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic branc ...

Collective noun In linguistics, a collective noun is a word referring to a collection of things taken as a whole. Most collective nouns in everyday speech are not specific to one kind of thing. For example, the collective noun "group" can be applied to people (" ...

s for a group of ravens (or at least the common raven) include "rave", "treachery", "unkindness" and "conspiracy". In practice, most people use the more generic "flock".

Extant species

* ''

Corvus albicollis The white-necked raven (''Corvus albicollis'') is somewhat smaller (50–54 cm in length) than the common raven or its nearest relative, the thick-billed raven ''C. crassirostris''. It is native to eastern and southern Africa. Descriptio ...

'' – white-necked raven (eastern and southern Africa) * ''

Corvus corax The common raven (''Corvus corax'') is a large all-black passerine bird. It is the most widely distributed of all corvids, found across the Northern Hemisphere. It is a raven known by many names at the subspecies level; there are at least ei ...

'' – common raven (northern hemisphere) * ''

Corvus coronoides The Australian raven (''Corvus coronoides'') is a passerine bird in the genus ''Corvus'' native to much of southern and northeastern Australia. Measuring in length, it has all-black plumage, beak and mouth, as well as strong grey-black legs and ...

'' – Australian raven (Australia) * ''

Corvus crassirostris The thick-billed raven (''Corvus crassirostris''), a corvid from the Horn of Africa, shares with the common raven the distinction of being the largest bird in the corvid family, and indeed the largest of the passerines. The thick-billed raven a ...

'' – thick-billed raven (Horn of Africa) * ''

Corvus cryptoleucus The Chihuahuan raven (''Corvus cryptoleucus'') is a species of crow in the family Corvidae that is native to the United States and Mexico. Description The proportions resemble the common raven with a heavy bill, but is about the same size as a c ...

'' – Chihuahuan raven (United States and Mexico) * ''

Corvus mellori The little raven (''Corvus mellori'') is a species of the family Corvidae that is native to southeastern Australia. An adult individual is about in length, with completely black plumage, beak, and legs; as with all Australian species of ''Corv ...

'' – little raven (southeastern Australia) * ''

Corvus rhipidurus The fan-tailed raven (''Corvus rhipidurus'') is a passerine bird of the crow family native to Eastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Description The fan-tailed raven is completely black including bill, legs and feet and the plumage has a pur ...

'' – fan-tailed raven (eastern Africa and Arabian peninsula) * ''

Corvus ruficollis The brown-necked raven (''Corvus ruficollis'') is a larger bird (52–56 cm in length) than the carrion crow though not as large as the common raven. It has similar proportions to the common raven but the bill is not so large or deep and the ...

'' – brown-necked raven (northern Africa, Arabian peninsula, Greater Middle East) * ''

Corvus tasmanicus The forest raven (''Corvus tasmanicus''), also commonly known as the Tasmanian raven, is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae native to Tasmania and parts of southern Victoria, such as Wilsons Promontory and Portland. Populations are also fou ...

'' – forest raven (Tasmania, southern Victoria and north-east NSW in Australia)

Extinct species

* †''

Corvus moriorum The Chatham raven (''Corvus moriorum'') is a prehistoric raven formerly native to the Chatham Islands (New Zealand). The closely related New Zealand raven, ''C. antipodum'' occurred in the North and South Islands of New Zealand. ''C. antipodum'' ...

'' –

Chatham raven The Chatham raven (''Corvus moriorum'') is a prehistoric raven formerly native to the Chatham Islands (New Zealand). The closely related New Zealand raven, ''C. antipodum'' occurred in the North and South Islands of New Zealand. ''C. antipodum' ...

* †''

Corvus antipodum The New Zealand raven (''Corvus antipodum'') was native to the North Island and South Island of New Zealand but has been extinct since the 16th century. There were two subspecies: the North Island raven (''Corvus antipodum antipodum'') and the So ...

'' –

New Zealand raven The New Zealand raven (''Corvus antipodum'') was native to the North Island and South Island of New Zealand but has been extinct since the 16th century. There were two subspecies: the North Island raven (''Corvus antipodum antipodum'') and the So ...

* †''

Corvus corax varius morpha leucophaeus ''Corvus'' is a widely distributed genus of medium-sized to large birds in the family Corvidae. It includes species commonly known as crows, ravens and rooks. The species commonly encountered in Europe are the carrion crow, the hooded crow, the ...

'' –

pied raven The pied raven (''Corvus corax varius'' morpha ''leucophaeus'') is an extinct colour morph of the North Atlantic subspecies of the common raven which was only found on the Faroe Islands and was last seen in 1902. It had large areas of white feath ...

Gallery

File:Head of Raven.jpg, Head of a

File:Corvus corax jouveniles.jpeg, Common ravens File:Corvus cryptoleucus Arizona 2.jpg,

Chihuahuan raven The Chihuahuan raven (''Corvus cryptoleucus'') is a species of crow in the family Corvidae that is native to the United States and Mexico. Description The proportions resemble the common raven with a heavy bill, but is about the same size as a c ...

File:Fan-tailed raven.jpg,

Fan-tailed raven The fan-tailed raven (''Corvus rhipidurus'') is a passerine bird of the crow family native to Eastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Description The fan-tailed raven is completely black including bill, legs and feet and the plumage has a pur ...

File:Australian Raven Sydney University.jpg,

Australian raven The Australian raven (''Corvus coronoides'') is a passerine bird in the genus ''Corvus'' native to much of southern and northeastern Australia. Measuring in length, it has all-black plumage, beak and mouth, as well as strong grey-black legs and ...

File:Ravaged Raven in Flight.jpg, A raven with a damaged wing. It can still fly with ease.

References

External links

Raven videos
on the Internet Bird Collection
North American ravens
on eNature {{Authority control

Etymology

Extant species

Extinct species

Gallery

See also

References

External links