Here, we see a small part of a highspeed aerial fight on April 3 between a non-resident Common Raven who wandered into our area and some of our local American Crows who nest here. (Note that the Raven, lower right, is larger, has a stouter beak, and has a fan tail that is much more rounded than the Crows’.)
Within about 10 seconds of the stranger’s landing atop a high spruce here, one of our local Crows was attacking it and calling for help. The bigger Raven did a credible job defending itself, even when a second and third Crow joined the fight. But, the advantage tipped to the Crows when the fourth Crow screamed in. By the time the seventh Crow was strafing the stranger, the Raven’s tail had lost a feather and there was a loose primary feather in its right wing. It fled followed by a ridiculing mob of our crows warning it never to return.
These are large birds. A Raven will usually be about two feet long and a Crow almost a foot and a half. Here’s an image of a mature Crow:
Leighton Archive Image
Crows and Ravens regard each other as enemies, even though they are cousins in the same Corvid family. The primary reason, according to recent research, is that they both have been reared to rob the other’s nest of eggs or chicks and to otherwise compete for food and territory. That is, they know each others’ harmful habits. Most of their fights are initiated and won by the smaller Crows, who are better (indeed, magnificent) fliers and have learned to fight in larger numbers than the less communal Ravens. However, when the Ravens outnumber the Crows, it can be a bad day for the smaller cousins. (Brooklin, Maine)