Common Raven Sounds

Overview
ID info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Calls
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Texas, December 23, 2015Recorded by Jessie Barry | Macaulay Library
Calls
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California, June 20, 2019Recorded by Paul Marvin | Macaulay Library
Calls
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California, January 20, 2013Recorded by Bruce Rideout | Macaulay Library
Calls
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Alaska, June 02, 2007Recorded by Gerrit Vyn | Macaulay Library
Calls
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New York, June 26, 2017Recorded by Chris Wood | Macaulay Library
Calls
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California, March 12, 2016Recorded by Lance Benner | Macaulay Library
Calls
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Norðurland eystra, May 30, 2018Recorded by Andrew Spencer | Macaulay Library
Calls
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California, March 12, 2016Recorded by Lance Benner | Macaulay Library
Juvenile calls
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Colorado, June 16, 2008Recorded by Nathan Pieplow

Sounds provided by Macaulay Library.
Listen to more sounds of this species from the ML archive.

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. The most commonly heard is the classic gurgling croak, rising in pitch and seeming to come from the back of the throat. It’s much deeper and more musical than a crow’s simple, scratchy caw. Ravens make this call often. It’s audible for more than a mile, and ravens often give it in response to other ravens they hear in the distance. Among their other calls, ravens make short, repeated, shrill calls when chasing predators or trespassers, and deep, rasping calls when their nests are disturbed. Dominant females sometimes make a rapid series of 12 or so loud knocking sounds that lasts about a second. Common Ravens can mimic other birds, and when raised in captivity can even be taught words.