[BugsJustFindMe]

> Telling them apart is fairly straightforward!

I would like to point out that your description of how straightforward it is to tell them apart very humorously belies how it is not at all straightforward because all of your proposed evaluations are implicitly relative to something not seen.

> Crows are smaller, have a flatter tail, and typically... Ravens, by comparison...

If you see one bird, is that bird smaller or larger? Is its tail more flat or less? Smaller than what? Flatter than what? Flappier than what? Without seeing both, a lay individual can't easily evaluate "by comparison".

[hetspookjee]

If you think woah that is one huge crow, than it’s probably a raven I find the easiest tell. Also the sound is a bit off and on the higher end I believe. And also their beak is more curved but that’s often hard to spot and not too reliable

[BugsJustFindMe]

You're doing it too. "bigger", "more curved", "higher sound". All of those are comparative. None of them help you know a raven or a crow except in relation to some idealized specimen of the other, which one likely doesn't have in front of them.

[aprinsen]

I'll take the bait. Ravens' beaks are hooked s.t. the top curves slightly around the bottom, an over beak if you will. The crow's beak is roughly conical and does not hook in this manner.

Additionally the raven's beak is is longer than it's head is wide (in profile). A crow's beak from the same view is approximately the same length as it's head.

[BugsJustFindMe]

> Ravens' beaks are hooked

This one sounds pretty good. Thanks (finally)! From a cursory search on the subject, it seems like one might need to be relatively close to be able to tell?

[aprinsen]

Maybe. A challenge in birding is getting close enough to look at things without scaring them away. The thing about both crows and ravens is they are (relatively) unafraid of humans. So, you shouldn't struggle much to get a good enough look to differentiate.

That's assuming Ravens are present in your area. One of the first things the guide books teach is to differentiate based on range. E.g. a candidate crow/Raven in Iowa is most likely a crow, since Ravens' range doesn't include the great plains.

Let me finish by plugging birding as a relaxing pastime that doesn't require much investment (just a $25 guide book for your area), and can really enhance any time spent out doors.

[DarknessFalls]

How could you tell apart an adolescent raven from a crow that had injured its beak, though? Each of you is making something relative to something else. The beaks are hooked. How hooked? Conical as opposed to what?

[hetspookjee]

Well bigger in the sense that’s it’s easy to have the feeling of awe when looking at a black bird. If in awe it’s probably a raven.

[BugsJustFindMe]

"Feeling of awe" is an assessment of you, not the bird. I feel awe from sparrows, and there are some absolutely gorgeous black chickens out there.

[srcreigh]

In this case a better indicator is that Ravens can use thermal winds to effectively float in the air, while crows can't and have to flap.

[BugsJustFindMe]

"Can/can't" isn't a great general indicator, because "doesn't" doesn't imply "can't" except circumstantially. If you see a bird floating, it might be a raven. If you see a bird not floating, you still have no idea.