Birds were a boon for cemeteries across the board. They ate plant pests, added an extra splash of color to the gardens, and attracted more tourists. Once planners caught on to this, they started to shape landscapes that also appealed to wildlife.

Many view the appearance of crows as an omen of death because ravens and crows are scavengers and are generally associated with dead bodies, battlefields, and cemeteries, and they’re thought to circle in large numbers above sites where animals or people are expected to soon die.

In Welsh mythology, witches and sorcerers could transform themselves into crows or ravens, enabling them to avoid capture. The bad reputation of witches was placed with these intelligent birds, making them a harbinger of death.

The Crow as Your Totem or Power Animal As a totem of the Great Spirit, the crow represents creation and spiritual strength. He gets the utmost respect. To have a crow as a power animal is powerful. The crow represents wisdom, and if you have a crow sighting, you are connecting with his spirit.

If you see 5 crows, sickness will follow; see 6 crows and death will follow. To avoid bad luck tip your hat if you see a magpie. Whatever you do to a robin will happen to you, so be nice!

Modern usage. Stock market investors sometimes refer to a three crows as a pattern of successive declining stock prices over three days often identified by overlapping candlestick patterns. Three crows are often seen as a warning of a period of powerful selling pressure on the stock market.

Summary: In literature, crows and ravens are a bad omen and are associated with witches. Most people believe they steal, eat other birds’ eggs and reduce the populations of other birds.

Because of its black plumage, croaking call, and diet of carrion, the raven is often associated with loss and ill omen. Yet, its symbolism is complex. As a talking bird, the raven also represents prophecy and insight. As a carrion bird, ravens became associated with the dead and with lost souls.

Ravens differ from crows in appearance by their larger bill, tail shape, flight pattern and by their large size. The raven is all black, has a 3.5-4 ft wingspan and is around 24-27 inches from head to tail. The crow is also black, has a 2.5 ft wingspan and is about 17 inches long.

An unkindness. At least that is one of the names given to the jet black birds with the dubious reputation. Fights between ravens are pretty common, and generally occur between members of the same sex. …

To distinguish a crow from a raven, listen to their calls. Crows most often have an even caw, caw sound, while ravens have a deeper, throatier, croaking call. If you’re able to observe a bird up close, you’ll see that ravens have fluffier feathers around their head and especially at their throat.

Both of these birds are extremely intelligent (though ravens seem a bit smarter than crows) and are quite playful. Ravens have at least 7 different calls and can imitate the calls of other birds (geese, jays, crows).

The genus includes species commonly known as crows, ravens and rooks; there is no consistent distinction between “crows” and “ravens”, and these appellations have been assigned to different species chiefly on the basis of their size, crows generally being smaller than ravens.

Calls. Common Ravens make many different kinds of calls varying from a low, gurgling croak to harsh grating sounds and shrill alarm calls. Scientists have placed their vocalizations into as many as 33 different categories based on sound and context.

Songs. Male Brown-headed Cowbird sing a liquid-sounding series of low gurgling notes followed by thin sliding whistles, lasting slightly longer than 1 second. Song learning in cowbirds has been an interesting scientific puzzle, since the birds aren’t raised by members of their own species.

Both crows and ravens make loud raspy signature calls, described as “caw” and “kraa” respectively, but American crows and common ravens have large repertoires of sounds in addition to these calls. They also communicate using a wide variety of other sounds including clicks and bell-like notes.

Ravens use their beaks and wings much like humans rely on our hands to make gestures, such as for pointing to an object, scientists now find. These gestures, produced before children speak their first words, are seen as milestones in the development of human speech. …

The common raven is one of the world’s smartest birds. The common raven’s intelligence is often compared to that of dolphins and chimpanzees. In experiments, they have shown they can solve problems, remember how people treated them, and plan for future events.

10 – 15 yearsIn the wild