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Brown-necked Raven
(Corvus ruficollis)
Size: 52-56 cm; wing span: 1.0-1.2 m
Weight: 0.5-0.65 kg
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Physical description |
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Click here for a physical description
Brown-necked Ravens are large corvids.
They are all-black, but with a bronze sheen on the neck
visible in favourable light conditions. The front and neck
may also look slightly scalloped.
The irises are dark.
The long, but not overly massive bill is dark-grey.
Legs and feet are grey.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See
Brown-necked Raven at Wikipedia .
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Range, habitat |
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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 Brown-necked Raven is available
HERE
.
Brown-necked Ravens are desert inhabitants. They can be found
from the Canary Islands in the West, throughout northern Africa,
including all of the Sahara desert (but not along the northern
coastal fringe), to Egypt and all around the Red Sea, all through
the Middle East and Arabia and eastward into southern Asia.
In central Asia they are found as far North as the eastern side
of the Caspian Sea and the area around Sarygamysh Lake and further
South-east in all of Turkmenistan.
There are only very few recent reports from Afghanistan, Pakistan,
or the north-western corner of India.
Brown-necked Ravens are found all over the Arabian peninsula,
including the desert regions (in turn including the Rub' al
Khali "Empty Quarter"). They are specialized on living in
arid and semi-arid environments and are often also found in
mountain ranges, but will inhabit other habitats as well.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
Brown-necked Ravens are the most common type of raven in Oman
(apart from the
House Crow).
A single bird was seen by us at Qurm in December 2009. Another
was spottedon a trip from Muscat into the Green Mountains (Jebel
Akhdar) in February 2010.
Identification is difficult from the marginal photos below, but
was obtained visually.
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Photos |
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Distant near-dorsal view of a Brown-necked Raven in flight
[Jebel Akhdar, February 2010]
Distant near-dorsal/ventral view of a Brown-necked Raven in flight
[Qurm, December 2009]
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.