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23

Little Crow (Corvus bennetti) Alternate name(s): "Small-billed Crow", "Kelly*" Aboriginal name(s): "woggura" Size: 45-48 cm Weight: 330-485 g

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Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Little Crows are visibly the smallest Australian corvids. Their plumage is glossy-black on the back, plain black in front. Their appearance depends mostly on the angle of infalling sunlight. The length of the slender bill is shorter than the size of the head. When perched, they appear to be long-legged. In straight, level flight the tail is long, thin and straight, with a slightly rounded tip. The eyes have whitish irises. The relatively short, straight bill is dark-grey. The legs and feet are also dark-grey, with pink foot soles. Juveniles have fleshy gapes, dark irises and a shorter bill and tail. Twitcher's tip The correct identification of corvids in the field is notoriously difficult. Little Crows are visibly smaller than other crows or ravens and have a bill that is visibly shorter than the length of their head. If visible, e.g. when ruffled by wind, the base of feathers of ravens is grey (while those of crows have white bases). The transition from black to grey is gradual (while in crows the transition from black to white is abrupt). Also their call distinguishes Little Crows from other species of corvids.

Taxonomy, classification See Little Crow at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Little Crow is available HERE . NB: Reports on ebird of birds submitted by birdwatchers from the Australian Outback tend to be clustered along roads and public areas such as camp grounds; in such cases their distribution is not a good representation of the overall distribution of the species. Little Crows are endemic to Australia. They are normally found across parts of the southern half of Australia, only rarely extending their range farther North. Their range extends from the north-western half of NSW and the south-eastern corner of QLD across most of SA, into the southern central NT (up to Alice Springs and just to the North of there), along the South coast of SA into central western WA (but not the south-western tip including Perth). After substantial inland rainfall they can extend their range to most of the interior of the continent, except parts of the Simpson Desert, the Great Victoria, Gibson and Great Sandy Deserts. They do not venture into the far North of the continent (Kimberley, Top End of the NT, Cape York peninsula) and are not found in the Great Dividing Range either. This exclusion zone includes the coastline on the VIC/SA border, the area around Adelaide, SA, and the hills to the North of the city. Little Crows can be found in the semi-arid to arid parts of the interior, in open plains and grassland, but also along roadsides. They adapt well to the presence of humans and are also found in urban environments.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Little Crows were first seen and identified by us in the township of Bourke, NSW, in March 2008. They were seen again in Bourke, NSW, in September 2012 and on other occasions since then. M. Eaton reports finding Little Crows in Thargomindah, QLD, in June 2020. Others were found near the Will Hutchinson Memorial, 8 km S of Coober Pedy, SA, in October 2022.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

Near-lateral view of a Little Crow on a sealed road
[Bourke, NSW, September 2012]

Lateral view of a Little Crow looking towards the observer (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near the Will Hutchinson Memorial, 8 km S of Coober Pedy, SA, October 2022]

Lateral view of a Little Crow (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near the Will Hutchinson Memorial, 8 km S of Coober Pedy, SA, October 2022]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Communal/roaming

Mobility: Sedentary/dispersive

Elementary unit: Flock

Food, Diet

Adults: Omnivore

Dependents: ?

Water intake: Daily?

Like all members of the Corvus family known to us, Little Crows are omnivores and scavengers.

This Little Crow has developed a taste for (obviously pre-chewed) chewing gum; we did not investigate which flavour the bird preferred...
[Bourke, NSW, September 2012]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

litcrow_20170920_6.m4a	(Bourke, NSW)	Upset/annoyed	© MD
litcrow_20170920_7.m4a	(Bourke, NSW)	Various	© MD
litcrow_20170920_3.m4a	(Bourke, NSW)	Various (foraging)	© MD
litcrow_20170920.m4a	(Bourke, NSW)	? (foraging)	© MD
litcrow_20170920_4.m4a	(Bourke, NSW)	?	© MD
litcrow_20170920_5.m4a	(Bourke, NSW)	?	© MD

More Little Crow sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.

Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Mon, 7 November 2022, 6:19 +00:00