Forest raven
Corvus tasmanicus Mathews, 1912
The forest raven (Corvus tasmanicus) is a species in the family Corvidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 627.5 g to 712 g and live up to 21.8 years. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the forest raven
- Weight
- 627.5 g – 712 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 21.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- woodlandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4 – 4.2src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
Where does the forest raven live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The forest raven is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the forest raven?
The forest raven (Corvus tasmanicus), also commonly known as the Tasmanian raven, is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae native to Tasmania and parts of southern Victoria, such as Wilsons Promontory and Portland. Populations are also found in parts of New South Wales, including Dorrigo and Armidale. Measuring 50–53 cm (20–21 in) in length, it has all-black plumage, beak and legs. As with the other two species of raven in Australia, its black feathers have grey bases. Adults have white irises; younger birds have dark brown and then hazel irises with an inner blue rim. New South Wales populations are recognised as a separate subspecies C. tasmanicus boreus, but appear to be nested within the Tasmanian subspecies genetically.
The forest raven lives in a wide variety of habitats in Tasmania but is restricted to more closed forest on mainland Australia. Breeding takes place in spring and summer, occurring later in Tasmania than in New South Wales. The nest is a bowl-shaped structure of sticks sited high in a tree. An omnivorous and opportunistic feeder, the forest raven eats a wide variety of plant and animal material, as well as food waste from urban areas and roadkill. It has been blamed for killing lambs and poultry and raiding orchards in Tasmania, and is unprotected under Tasmanian legislation. The forest raven is sedentary, with pairs generally bonding for life and establishing permanent territories.
From the Wikipedia article “Forest raven” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Forest_raven&oldid=1380253494), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the forest raven sound like?
Is the forest raven endangered?
The forest raven is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the forest raven classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyCorvidae
- genusCorvus
- SpeciesCorvus tasmanicus Mathews, 1912
Synonyms Corvus marianae tasmanicus
Other names and names in other languages (37)
- غراب الغابةArabic
- cornella de TasmàniaCatalan
- krkavec pralesníCzech
- cigfran y goedwigWelsh
- Tasmansk RavnDanish
- TasmankräheGerman
- Tasman-KräheGerman
- tasmania korvoEsperanto
- Cuervo del bosqueSpanish
- Cuervo de TasmaniaSpanish
- tasmaania varesEstonian
- tasmaniankorppiFinnish
- Corbeau de TasmanieFrench
- Corneille de TasmanieFrench
- šumski gavranCroatian
- tasmán varjúHungarian
- Corvo di forestaItalian
- Corvo della TasmaniaItalian
- Corvo imperiale di forestaItalian
- モリガラスJapanese
- tasmaninis kranklysLithuanian
- Tsintah zhį́ʼiiNavajo
- Tasmaanse RaafDutch
- tasmanravnNorwegian
- kruk leśnyPolish
- kruk tasmańskiPolish
- corvo-da-tasmâniaPortuguese
- Тасманийский воронRussian
- krkavec lesnýSlovak
- Šumski australijski gavranSerbian
- tasmankorpSwedish
- Tasmanya KuzgunuTurkish
- Tazmanya KuzgunuTurkish
- крук лісовийUkrainian
- 林鴉Chinese
- 林渡鴉Chinese
- 林渡鸦Chinese
Relatives of the forest raven
Other species in the same genus Corvus.
Common raven
Corvus corax
Rook
Corvus frugilegus
Hooded crow
Corvus cornix
Carrion crow
Corvus corone
House crow
Corvus splendens
Pied crow
Corvus albus
CompareForest raven vs Common ravenForest raven vs RookForest raven vs Hooded crowForest raven vs Carrion crow
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the forest raven?
An adult forest raven weighs 627.5 g – 712 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the forest raven live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the forest raven for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
Is the forest raven endangered?
The forest raven is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the forest raven live?
The forest raven has a recorded lifespan of 21.8 years.
What kind of animal is the forest raven?
The forest raven (Corvus tasmanicus) belongs to the family Corvidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Forest raven (Corvus tasmanicus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/forest-raven
“Forest raven (Corvus tasmanicus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/forest-raven.
@misc{forest_raven_2026,
title = {Forest raven (Corvus tasmanicus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/forest-raven},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}