Australian raven

This is one of our 2 regular Aussie ravens that are second behind the magpies in pecking order for mince on our deck. Usually the ravens only get the left over crumbs.

This one was so hungry he had his mouth open in advance, while watching me, about to dive down to grab a small piece of mince. They are very timid and never hang around.

There was only one magpie left, so the 2 ravens did something I had not seen before. They ganged up on the magpie, swooped it and sent it on its way with them in pursuit. After a short time the ravens were back to collect their small remaining bits of mince. Ravens 1 - Magpies 0.

Ravens are not birds that you could say are much loved in Australia, although I like them. Their feathers are glossy, with a purple, blue or green sheen, and its black feathers have grey bases. It is a large bird at 18 to 21" in length.

The Australian raven was first described in 1827, and its species name highlighting its similarity with the carrion crow (C. corone). Two subspecies are recognised, which differ slightly in calls and are quite divergent genetically.