Adults: General plumage totally black, with purple and green gloss. Underdown dusky grey. Throat feathers are indistinct. Eye, white, with inner blue ring. Bill, black. Feet, black.
Immatures: Like adults but sooty underparts. Underdown whitish-grey. Eye, brown.
Derivation
Cor'-vus - L., crow: mellori - J.W. Mellor (1868 - 1931), prominent Australian ornithologist
Habitat
Alpine woodlands to over 1600 m, forests, woodlands to almost treeless plains, sub-inland woodlands and scrubs, pastoral country, farmlands, coasts, suburbs, cities.
Little Raven (Corvus mellori) [XC366864]
by Marc Anderson from Yea Wetlands, Victoria, Australia (call)
Little Raven (Corvus mellori) [XC153110]
by nick talbot from Athelstone, Australia (call)
Nest
A shallow cup of twigs and sticks, lined with grass, bark and wool. Usually in a small tree within 10 m of the ground, in bushes or on a telegraph pole, sometimes on the ground. Often breeds in loose groups.
Eggs (Guide)
4 or 5; pale green, heavily blotched and spotted with dark olive-brown; oblong-oval; about 44 x 30 mm. Incubation: 19 - 20 days; by female.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in 35 - 41 days.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet