Australian raven fact sheet – wugan

What are Australian ravens?

Australian ravens are a medium-sized bird that have all black feathers and a black beak. Adult birds have white eyes.

It is easy to mistake ravens for crows. There are 3 species of ravens and 3 species of crows in Australia and they are all very similar. However, ravens have long throat feathers called hackles that look a bit like a beard. Crows do not have hackles.

Ravens are found all across Australia except desert ecosystems and the very far north.

The scientific name for the Australian raven is  Corvus coronoides.  The Australian raven is called  wugan  by the Darug people of the Sydney basin.

The feathers and beaks of Australian ravens are black.

Ravens have a distinctive 'beard' called a hackle.

What do Australian ravens sound like?

Ravens make a very distinctive sound, almost like a human call of "ah, ah, ahhhhhhhhh".

A raven calling

What do Australian ravens eat?

Mainly carnivorous, ravens have an expansive and varied diet. Their diet includes invertebrates, small animals such as ducklings and nestlings, eggs, carrion and plants such as grains or fruits. 'Carrion' means dead animals.

Ravens will also scavenge for food that humans leave behind. They scavenge in rubbish tips and take food from rubbish bins in streets, parks and school playgrounds.

A raven and wedge-tail eagle eating road kill

How are Australian ravens adapted to their environment?

Ravens are intelligent birds. They can remember things over long periods of time and have problem solving abilities which they apply to finding food and to their social life. For instance, Australian ravens hide food in caches and can learn to unzip zippered outer compartments in backpacks knowing they're most like to hold trail snacks.

Ravens have a strong, sharp beak with a small hook on the end so they can rip apart flesh as well as pick up small insects and plants. Their legs are adapted for walking on the ground.

Ravens have a hooked beak for tearing meat.

How do Australian ravens reproduce and what is their life cycle?

Ravens usually mate for life and lay their eggs in spring. They lay their eggs in a large, messy nest which they build high up in a tree. The nests of ravens are often in the shape of a bowl or platform and made of twigs and bark lined with grass and feathers. The female incubates the eggs. 'Incubate' means to keep warm.

The eggs hatch after about 20 days. After about 6 weeks the young fledgling ravens leave the nest. A fledgling is a young bird which has grown flight feathers.

The young birds stay with their parents for 3-4 months until they are independent enough to live by themselves. Both parents feed and look after their young.

Ravens raise one brood of young a year.

A raven chick

What threats do Australian ravens face?

Australian ravens are not a threatened species. They can be eaten by birds of prey such as powerful owls or wedge tailed eagles.

Farmers sometimes shoot them when they become a problem eating their crops or animals.

Should people feed Australian ravens?

Humans should not feed ravens. Human food is bad for them and can make them sick. Ravens also start to expect that humans will feed them and can persistently follow people around for food. Ravens will try to get into backpacks, lunch boxes and garbage bins.

Related fact sheets

More bird fact sheets

• Bird fact sheets – overview
• Pied currawong fact sheet (comparison: similar colours, different eye colour)
• Australian magpie (similar size, different eye colour and call)
• Powerful owl (predator of ravens)

Habitats and food sources

• Tree habitats fact sheet
• Shrub habitats fact sheet
• Leaf litter habitats fact sheet
• Eucalypt forest fact sheet
• Field of Mars Reserve fact sheet

Animals linked through food webs

• Invertebrate fact sheet – overview (food source)