70 years too late

[zoony]

crabbyob.. The raven is the biggest corvid, identifiable by size and it has a wedge-shaped tail..Very heavy beak which is slightly curved but not really hooked..

[Michael Rolls]

I have been told that some of the black birds around here are ravens, but they don't seem nearly as big as those I remember from the Tower of London. If they are indeed ravens, they are scarcely any bigger than crows - could that be the case?
Mike

[zoony]

Dunno Mike.. Look at this?


https://www.bto.org/develop-your-skills/bird-identification/videos/bto-bird-id-corvids

[Michael Rolls]

thanks for that, zoony. I've always been able to differentiate between crows and rooks, because of the latter's light coloured beak - and watching that video I am convinced that I have not seen ravens around here - there simply aren't any all black birds noticeably larger than a crow or rook. As I mentioned, I well remember the ravens at the Tower - much bigger than the crows and rooks around here
Mike

[Michael Rolls]

Just checked my 'Book of British Birds' which says that a raven is half as big again as a crow - there is nothing of that sort of size amongst the local corvids, so I am sure we have no ravens
Mike

[crabbyob]

the bird that landed on our kitchen window sill was big all black and a very hooked bill... and bloody miles away from the tower...

[klondike]

Here or there? Probably a vulture or something there and likely to be holy.

[crabbyob]

no mate i recognise vultures from John Wayne movies

[zoony]

Did you notice if the legs/feet were feathered? At this point we might consider a juvenile raptor of some kind? (It's the hooked beak..)

[GrannyMac]

Here or there? Probably a vulture or something there and likely to be holy.

[Michael Rolls]

Did you notice if the legs/feet were feathered? At this point we might consider a juvenile raptor of some kind? (It's the hooked beak..)

Not really been close enough to see if the beaks were hooked to any extent - but if there were juvenile ravens around, there would have to be adults as well, and there's nothing anything like big enough
Mike