Caw Vs. Kraa: Meaning In The Calls Of Crows And Ravens | Science

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GrrlScientistScience This article is more than 11 years oldCaw vs. Kraa: meaning in the calls of crows and ravensThis article is more than 11 years old

This short video, by the Cornell Lab of O, discusses the differences between and potential meanings of the sounds made by crows and ravens.

GrrlScientistSat 18 Oct 2014 13.09 BSTLast modified on Fri 29 Oct 2021 12.55 BSTSharePrefer the Guardian on Google

Since today is caturday, that wonderful day when the blogosphere takes a breather from hell-raising to celebrate pets, I thought some of my favourite animals: corvids. I ran across this lovely video created by Cornell University’s Laboratory of Ornithology (more fondly referred to as the “Lab of O”) that discusses the differences between and potential meanings of the sounds made by crows and ravens.

If you watch birds, even casually, you might be confused by trying to distinguish these two large black corvid species. However, both species are quite chatty, and these birds’ sounds provide important identifying information. In this video, narrated by Kevin McGowan, an ornithologist at the Cornell Lab of O, you’ll learn how to distinguish crows and ravens on the basis of their voices alone.

Both crows and ravens make loud raspy signature calls, described as “caw” and “kraa” respectively, but American crows and common ravens have large repertoires of sounds in addition to these calls. They also can learn to imitate the calls of other birds. As you’ll learn in this video, crows often make a “rattle” sound along with their territorial “caw”. They also communicate using a wide variety of other sounds including clicks and bell-like notes. Ravens, on the other hand, produce deep, throaty kraa calls.

You can download a free kit from the Lab of O that teaches you how to distinguish crows and ravens. Cornell’s Lab of O can be found on twitter @CornellBirds.

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When she’s not out birding, GrrlScientist can also be found here: Maniraptora. She’s very active on twitter @GrrlScientist and sometimes lurks on social media: facebook, G+, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

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