Adults: General plumage totally black, with purple and green gloss. Underdown dusky grey. Throat feathers are short and indistinct. Eye, white, with blue inner ring. Bill, black. Feet, black.
Immatures: Like adults but breast and belly sooty black. Underdown paler greyish. Eye, brown.
Other Names (World)
Forest Raven, Tasmanian Raven, New England Raven, Relict Raven, Crow
Habitat
In Tasmania, ranges from alpine forests, high moors to wet eucalypt forests, woodlands, coastal scrubs, beaches, orchards, pine plantations, adjacent open country. This is the only crow or raven in Tasmania.
Tasmania, extreme south-east South Australia, the Otway Range and Wilsons Promontory, Vic., and the New England Tableland and along the coast between about Tea Gardens and Uranga, NSW.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Food
Omnivorous. Insects and plant material in about equal quantities, even foraging on beaches.
Voice
Powerful deep, slow, baritone 'korr, korr, korr (korr)'. Last note drwan out in territorial advetisement. Lacks the wail of the Australian Raven. Also short deep conversational caws.
Nest
A large rather flat structure of sticks, lined with scraps of bark, grass and wool felted together into a thick pad. Usually above 13 m in the fork of a large tree.
Eggs (Guide)
Usually 4; pale green, heavily blotched and spotted with dark olive-brown; oblong-oval; about 46 x 31 mm. Incubation: by female.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous.
Subspecies
Forest Raven (Corvus tasmanicus) and Relict Raven (Corvus boreus) (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) have been lumped into Corvus tasmanicus following Christidis and Boles (1994).
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
tasmanicus Mathews, 1912 - Coastal southern Victoria and south-eastern SA, islands of Bass Strait and Tasmania.
boreus Rowley, I, 1970 - Central-eastern and north-eastern New South Wales. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Relict Raven (Corvus boreus).
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