Cravens - not the smoking kind!!!!!!!!

[cabz]

I was up on Manitoulin Island this summer visiting a friend.  Daily she puts out bird seed and gets black birds which she called craven being the hybrid between raven and crow.  Are they fairly common, uncommon, rare?  Sometimes I look at what I think is a crow, but it looks bigger, but not bit enough to be a raven.  I am in Southwest Caledon and frequent around Erin and have heard and seen Ravens.  This morning I was out walking and a bird flew pass, did not have bins with me, but it's voice was a definte croonk, croonk, but slightly different then a the raven's croak.  It seemed to be flying with some crows and yesterday I heard it and again it was with some crows.  Could have been a raven, with an accent!!!!!!

Thanks in advance for any info.

[thouc]

Hybrids are generally very rare in nature, with a few exceptions (such as Mallard/Black Duck and Blue-winged/Golden-winged Warbler). Since crows and ravens are similar-looking it would probably be difficult to distinguish a hybrid from a small raven or big crow without taking a DNA sample. Crows or ravens are usually not eating bird seed, seems more likely to be blackbirds or grackles to me.

[cabz]

Thanks for your reply, thouc.  They probably could have been either.  They were grackles and RWBB also at the bird seed, so probably crows, maybe they just grow them bigger up there.  I have had crows come to the bird seed at home.  I was out in the southwestern states last winter and had Ravens coming in for bird seed, which surprised me, but gave us nice lawn chair birding.