Nevermore

I was just sitting here, trying to think about what to write about. And I looked out the window at this tree in the backyard (which of course has no leaves, since it is late April in Seattle)... there is the biggest crow sitting on a branch. Huh. Made me wonder what the difference between a raven and a crow is. I mean, is a "raven" what they call a big black bird in Maryland, while a "crow" is what they call the same bird on the west coast? And yet I feel like a raven is bigger than a crow. Except that the bird staring at me through the window is pretty darn big. Hm. Might be time to go to that fount of knowledge (no, not Dad)... Wikipedia.

Here's what I learned.

The true crows are large passerine birds that form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-sized jackdaws Eurasian and Daurian to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents except South America and several offshore and oceanic islands (including Hawaii). In the United States, the word "crow" is used to refer to the American Crow. The crow genus makes up a third of the species in the Corvidae family. Other corvids include rooks and jays. Crows appear to have evolved in Asia from the corvid stock, which had evolved in Australasia. A group of crows is called a "murder," though this term usually appears in poetry rather than scientific contexts.

Hm. Interesting. Seems as though the difference is that crows are really Corvus brachyrhynchos while ravens are Corvus corax. And both exist in North America. Also, it appears that every place in the world has some form of large, black, annoying bird!!!

Wait, further research on Wikipedia shows that:

Apart from its greater size, the Common Raven differs from its cousins, the crows, by having a larger and heavier beak, a shaggy throat, and a wedge-shaped tail.

This is SO not what I thought I might blog about today. But nevertheless, there it is.