MapPorn
Corvid distribution in Britain and Ireland
Discussion
The choughs are back in Cornwall again too.
Chuffed to bits for this
Are they new and continuous choughs?
Guess who just got back today...
And Kent!!
Lots of hoodies in Edinburgh as well
Its interesting how the choughs seem to overlap with the most celtic parts of the islands
Does anyone have an explanation for why ravens are distributed like that? What do they have against the east of the country lol?
Not sure but it's generally more hilly in the west and flatter in the east
I live in the Netherlands and see plenty of ravens, so I doubt it's due to elevation.
So interestingly they went extinct in the Netherlands and got reintroduced. So something pushed them westward and they just havenāt recovered in the east of England.
I see plenty every winter on the north Kent marshes, but whether they are birds from the continent or from the west of Britain I don't know.
Yes I see them only on mountains here in NI.
The other difference is rainfall. To the point that parts of the west are considered rainforest, for example, so could be that.
We do also have ravens in the East of England, theyāre just a bit less common.
IIRC some more recent maps Iāve seen show that ravens are pushing eastward slowly. Iām sure Iāve seen a pair in Ruislip in the last few months, and maybe where I live too in the east.
If you were a Beafeater you'd see plenty in London.
Seagull Territory
I'm right on the supposed line and I see ravens all the time, I find this a bit hard to believe.
According to the RSPB website the range actually stretches slightly further east and right along the south coast
Hereās the thingā¦
That's a retro reddit reference ššš
So all the time I see crows in Newcastle and wonder if they are Ravens. Turns out they're just crows
The thing with ravens is you'll know. You see a big crow you think "wow that crow is huge". You see a raven and you're like "Jesus that crow is on steroids". The other thing is crows will be together in groups, ravens typically are only seen singularly or in pairs.
The raven that weāre talking about here is in fact the worldās largest species of passerine (perching bird). So, yeah, theyāre gigantic. They also have a shaggy ābeardā and a deep, guttural sort of āonk, onk, onkā call
i thought you were gonna give me a pic of a bird and instead itās some random guy in a bird costume
my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined
And rooks are by far the most sociable birds in the group (no coincidence that they're also the loudest). Crows look like silent loners compared with them.
Carrion crows (aka crows) are not uncommonly seen in groups but they are also generally solitary.
Yeah the first time I saw a raven I was taken aback. It was definitely not a crow. They are huge and look closer to a bird of prey.
Guess I know now! Will keep a look out for super hench crows encase a raven got lost
Have you been to Northumberland Zoo? They have a raven there. It is absolutely huge. So huge.
I haven't put thats another place added to the summer list.
See more Magpies in Newcastle though
There are definitely choughs in Cornwall.
Also I read/ heard that hooded crows and carrion crows are basically the same, just different colouration?
Different species but they hybridise in some regions.
Theyve been lumped together recently, so hooded crows are now considered a sub-species of carrion crow
I believe it's the other way around; Used to be considered a subspecies, now broadly regarded as a separate species (and hybridisation is lower than previously thought).
I think different organisations have different benchmarks for what they consider a species. However, most places now follow this list which has them as the same species. I'm sure it'll change back and forth over the years as more evidence is gathered. https://www.birdguides.com/news/unified-global-taxonomy-published-for-first-time/
No ravens in the Tower of London?
Itās gonna fall down!
Ravens get much farther east along the south coast than shown here, certainly quite rare but Iāve had them in my garden near Brighton
Yes, we have them further up the coast from you too.
Didnāt know jays were part of the family. Interesting
Also British magpies are beautiful
They are rarer than the other corvids (at least here in Ireland) but I have seen a few over the years.
Whereas here in Norfolk I see jays all the time.
Around Berkshire, I see them once every couple months
There is only a very small portion of the uk where all these birds kind of overlap.
I noticed that too. Aran, Islay seems to be prime corvid territory.
What do those damn crows have against Ireland?
Theyāve not forgiven Oliver Crowwell
There is a gang of Hoodies in my parents garden, who co-ordinate to torment dogs, cats, & squirrels, they will also attack any Raven, which are noticeably larger, if they to come too close to their patch. But they will allow Jackdaws to hang out with them.
Are.. are crows racist?
Iām in Belfast and my garden is full of magpies
Hmm, there are a lot of hooded crows in Aberdeenshire.
Whats with the interesting vertical split of Britain for ravens?Ā
Hooded crows vs carrion crows
It's a North & South Korea situation. There's a DMZ through the Great Glen.
Jackdaw is a crow right?
Here's the thing...
My favourite crow. During covid I would feed them and watch the family dynamics, incredibly smart and social birds.
They're smaller, have a light coloured patch on the back of their heads & tend to hand around in larger groups.
Why ravens donāt go east?
I could've sworn I've never seen a Hooded Crow here in the South of Ireland until about 5 or 10 years ago. Now they're everywhere. I feel like I'm going crazy, lol.
Is there any reason why Ravens dislike the Danelaw?
No Raven's to be seen at the Tower of London?
This is an old map, Ravens have returned to Northumberland and Newcastle. Either that or suddenly our crows have taken steroids.
But, but, but, there are ravens in London
The title deserves an upvote
Me and my partner once spotted a carrion crow in Mayo, we were like "What the hell are you doing here?". Musta looked odd to passerby's as generally most people here can't tell the difference between crows and ravens
Itād be interesting to see a similar map for pigeons. I noticed the pigeons in London were brown versus the dark blue pigeons we have in NI.
Two ravens near me in NI: https://ibb.co/qFBQR7rT
Holy shit, Hooded Crows have Inverness and Ross locked down
Perhaps both of these are "only me". Small sample size.
Are hooded crows a lot more common than they were?
Do other people know of hooded crows being called carrion crows? I was in an area once where hooded crows were called "carrion crows".
Was considered a subspecies of carrion crowd until relatively recently. Though theyāve been known as hooded crows for a long time I believe.
The national bird and emblem of cornwall is the red-billed chough also called the cornish chough
disappeared for 60 years though is resurging in west cornwall for the last 2 decades
You can find all of them in southwestern Scotland
Definitely a lot of carrion crows and hybrids in the Isle of Man now. Seems like hooded crows are getting pushed north and west.
There are ravens in The New Forest.
I believe ravens are heading east again. Iām pretty certain I saw one in Kent recently (saw it and it was huge and the excellent, though obviously not 100% reliable, Merlin app identified the call as one).
Glad to see ravens have no respect for the Danelaw.
We've got choughs down here in Cornwall, too.
I think some of these maps need updating, since Choughs are everywhere in Cornwall at this point
I've never seen a raven anywhere in Ireland. all of the other birds are quite common.
You mainly see them in upland areas.
The war between Hooded Crows and Carrion Crows looks intense
The map doesnāt show carrion crows on the Isle of Man but they and hybrids are there. Iād be amazed if none had ever reached Ireland.
Why isn't there a green blob for ravens in London??
Wait so those really big crows I see in London are just really big crows?
Unless you are at the Tower, yes, most likely. Crows are pretty big, ravens are huge.
Ahh I worked right next the tower, but ā¦ yeah no it wasnāt those. I must have been idealising haha
I saw a magpie in the Hebrides literally yesterday.
Definitely carrion crows in Ireland, although probably restricted to the east coast.
I live in Dublin and I see many, many hoodies but I can't recall seeing a carrion crow. We do get them occasionally but they seem to be very rare.
Hooded and Carrion Crows be beefing
What's going g on with the Hooded crow and Carrion crow? Is it some sort of territorial thing?
I'm looking for the blob on the Tower of London for the ravens...
I love in the south east and see the occasional raven. Rare though, they don't like to cross the Greenwich meridian.
Thank you for not using "British isles" in your title
Amen
Carried crows in Ireland North and south
Hooded crow has the Highlands on lock
It is out of date. Jays have now spread to much of northern Scotland.
one word
caw
Iām sure Iāve seen hooded crows in East Yorkshire.
I've seen many Jays in the west or Ireland
I've never seen a Jay in Ireland
ah, coRvid, not covid...
I fucking hate magpies!!! They come every morning as soon as it gets bright at like 4am or before in summer squawking outside my windows so loud šš
I read that as covid and was trying to make sense of the maps š š¤£
Corvid is a variant that only affects West Country folk
Underrated comment.
š¤£
lmao well done
For Corvid 19, the map should show the crows socially isolating.
Because if they didnāt, itād be Murder.
You mean you didn't get a bad chesty chough with covid?
Same
Same