Can anyone identify this type of Raven please - see photos attached.
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location needed.
Looks like Brisbane, Zosterops.
I'm guessing at Torresian Crow.
Samford Valley Qld.
This Crow/Raven discussion pops up from time to time, but I still don't know
I'd go Little Raven, they're what we have here in Vic.
I think nd probabely lives in Mansfield???
M-L
The birds were at Geelong, Victoria. Thanks everyone for your help on this - I really want an answer to this. By the way, my surname is Mansfield - it's not the town.
Little Raven it is then. Notice how it isn't that little.
Aust. corvids are extremely difficult to identify from photos and location is very important.
Australian and Forest Ravens are also found in parts of Vic though, as are Little Crows in the NW of the state, though just about any corvid in the greater Melb area is a Little Raven.
Many thanks zosterops. In discussions with a birder of many years experience, he relies almost exclusivley on their call - "If you hear it, you can name it." Otherwise, like you, he says that they are very difficult to distinguish just from a photo.
This Raven was feeding a youngster who was constantly cawing, but whether that was a mature call or not, I wouldn't know. He was a fairly well developed youngster and a strong flyer, so perhaps his call can be relied upon. This call was a monotone "Kaaa, kaaa, kaaa," repeated almost incessantly.
Thanks all for your comments. Much appreciated. I'm still not positive either way, but will go with Little Raven over Forest Raven for the time being. Next time I go out I will try and record the call.
The following links might be of some help to you.
http://www.birdlife.org.au/documents/ATL-Atlas-News16-Apr12.pdf
http://www.birdlife.org.au/australian-birdlife/detail/the-trouble-with-ravens
Cheers,
al
Central Victoria
https://sites.google.com/site/blackhillreservekyneton/home
Yes once the calls are learnt the situation can become much clearer.
That call you describe sounds like Little Raven to me, indeed I can hear one outside calling right now (e of Melb).
This site has some useful information and call recordings.
http://www.graemechapman.com.au/library/viewphotos.php?c=422
Another method i've found helpful is to go to ebird and search species maps for likely suspects. if one candidate is say super abundant at a site of observation and another is unknown in the general area it can be inferred the former is more likely, though certainly not definitive.
http://ebird.org/ebird/australia/map/
e.g. a search for species 'Little Raven and location 'Geelong' produces abundant sightings, yet 'Forest Raven' does not return any records of sightings in the immediate area (closest being down near Anglesea).
Good links, al.
I have heard and seen the odd Australian Raven on Melbourne's far outskirts, though they are rare and not 'urbanised' like the local Little Ravens.
Thanks for all your help - a very interesting problem. Between us we may eventually come up with a definite way to distinguish between these birds.