Corvus Skull Replica or Common Raven measures 4.7 inches. Common Raven Skull Replica is museum quality polyurethane cast made in USA. 2-part skull (separate cranium and jaw).
The Corvus or Common raven is a large all-black passerine bird. It is the most widely distributed of all corvids, found across the Northern Hemisphere.
It is one of the two largest corvids, alongside the thick-billed raven, and is possibly the heaviest passerine bird; at maturity, the Common raven averages 25 inches in length and 3.2 pounds) in mass.
Corvus or Common ravens have coexisted with humans for thousands of years and in some areas have been so numerous that people have regarded them as pests.
Part of their success as a species is due to their omnivorous diet; they are extremely versatile and opportunistic in finding sources of nutrition, feeding on carrion, insects, cereal grains, berries, fruit, small animals, nesting birds, and food waste.
A mature Common raven ranges between 21 to 28 in. and has a wingspan of 46 to 60 in. Recorded weights range from 1.52 to 4.96 lb. thus making the common raven one of the heaviest passerines.
The bill is large and slightly curved, with a culmen length of 2.2 to 3.3 in., easily one of the largest bills amongst passerines (perhaps only the thick-billed raven has a noticeably larger bill).
It has a longish, strongly graduated tail, at 7.9 to 10.4 in., and mostly black iridescent plumage, and a dark brown iris.
The Corvus or Common raven throat feathers are elongated and pointed and the bases of the neck feathers are pale brownish-grey.
The legs and feet are good-sized, with a tarsus length of 2.4 to 2.8 in. Juvenile plumage is similar but duller with a blue-grey iris.
Apart from its greater size, the Corvus or Common raven differs from its cousins, the crows, by having a larger and heavier black beak, shaggy feathers around the throat and above the beak, and a wedge-shaped tail.
Flying ravens are distinguished from crows by their tail shape, larger wing area, and more stable soaring style, which generally involves less wing flapping.
Despite their bulk, ravens are easily as agile in flight as their smaller cousins. In flight the feathers produce a creaking sound that has been likened to the rustle of silk.
The voice of ravens is also quite distinct, its usual call being a deep croak of a much more sonorous quality than a crow’s call.
Most Corvus or Common ravens prefer wooded areas with large expanses of open land nearby, or coastal regions for their nesting sites and feeding grounds.
