Things everybody needs to hear more often:

[ingalovinde@embracing.space]

@schratze @flaubau apparently russian word for rook (bird) is also derived from onomatopoeia for its call

[tooteuse@blueplanet.social]

@schratze I once heard that if you are not sure whether it's a crow or a raven - it's a crow. When you see a raven, you definitely know it's a raven.

[schratze@todon.nl]

@IngaLovinde @flaubau the majority of bird names are

[naturepunk@ecoevo.social]

@schratze If there are loads of them it's not a raven but if you think "That crow looks a lot closer than it is?" and they are on their own or in a pair it maybe a raven.

I'm with @tooteuse on this one. Raven's are massive and should be sitting on a gods shoulder whispering in his ear and not flying around :)

[ingalovinde@embracing.space]

@schratze @flaubau I don't think majority of names of common popular birds are? Not even in English probably; and in Russian the only other name I can think of is cuckoo. And I have just checked etymology of like 15 birds I could remember and the only one tracked to onomatopoeia is goose (although a couple more come from general words on sounds topic). Names derived from e.g. colors seem to be more popular.

[ptmcg@fosstodon.org]

@schratze "You is kind, you is smart, you is important" - daily affirmation to a child, from "The Help" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H50llsHm3k

[eedly@mindly.social]

@schratze A few easy rules for distinguishing crows from ravens in the Pacific Northwest:

- Pointed wingtips and wedge-shaped tail, it's usually a raven.
- Fingered wingtips and wide tail, it's usually a crow.
- Aerodynamic head and beak, probably a crow.
- Thick beak, odd-shaped head, probably a raven.
- If it sounds like a crow, it's a crow.
- If it sounds like a human going AWK in a falsetto voice, it's a raven.
- If it's using a crosswalk and looking at cars like "You're supposed to stop for me" it's 100% a crow.
- If it's looking at you like you're the middle part of a sandwich it's making, it's 100% a raven.
- If there are more than four of them and there are no visible dead things, they're crows.
- If there are more than four of them, and there are no visible dead things, but you're pretty sure they're ravens, GET OUT NOW.

[schratze@todon.nl]

@eviloatmeal All Seagulls Are Dirty

[schratze@todon.nl]

@IngaLovinde yeah, slight exaggeration probably. It's always either the noise they make, the color they are, or their most prominent behavior

[owl@gts.u8.is]

@schratze @IngaLovinde fläskolle is an outlier

[schratze@todon.nl]

@owl @IngaLovinde ach ja, der Fleisch-Ole

[schratze@todon.nl]

@owl @IngaLovinde in the widest sense, that's a behavior etymology. This bird is known for eating your pork

I don't have an explanation for olle though

[matildalove@wetdry.world]

@schratze

if you're asking "is that a raven or a crow", it's a crow

if you're going "holy shit that bird is fucking huge", it's a raven

[stoori@polyglot.city]

@owl @IngaLovinde @schratze domherre also is derived from behaviour: it's always impending doom 🤘

[petterofcats@mastodon.world]

@schratze we have a common saying out here: “if you see a blackbird, it’s a blackbird. If you see a large blackbird, it’s a crow. If you see a goth eagle, it’s a raven.”

[nikkileah@mendeddrum.org]

@schratze crows are cool. Wanna make friends with crows

[greenwhale@dice.camp]

@schratze 😏 @eviloatmeal