And the birds' calls are substantially different. McGowan of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology writes on his crow FAQ page, ravens soar longer than crows, and you can see through their wing feathers as they fly (among other differences). One big indicator is size: The common raven is much larger, about the size of a red-tailed hawk. Telling them apart can be tough, but it is possible for eagle-eyed birders. In the U.S., when people talk about crows and ravens, they're usually referring to the American crow ( Corvus brachyrhynchos) and the common raven ( Corvus corax). Despite its informal name, the so-called Australian raven is more closely akin to the Torresian crow than it is to the common raven. But pervasive as these labels may be, they're not scientific and do not reflect the latest research.

There's also a large-beaked outlier known as the rook, which was named after the unusual sound it makes. Mid-sized members of the genus are usually called crows, while the very smallest species go by the name jackdaws. Historically, the name raven has been given to several of the big-bodied Corvus birds with shaggy feathers on their necks. Colloquially, some of them are referred to as ravens while others are called crows, rooks, or jackdaws. To date, scientists have named 40 species. Members of the genus Corvus can be found on every continent except Antarctica and South America (although other close relatives live there). All crows and ravens belong to the same genus.

Here are a few facts about these crafty corvids that might surprise you.

But the birds are fascinating creatures, adaptable and brainy to an extent that's almost scary. In many Western cultures, they've historically been associated with death, disease, and bad omens reviled as crop-stealers by farmers, and condemned as nuisances by city dwellers.

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