Little raven
Corvus mellori Mathews, 1912
The little raven (Corvus mellori) is a species in the family Corvidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 513.8 g to 567 g. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the little raven
- Weight
- 513.8 g – 567 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.95src 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 little 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 little raven is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Why a country list is not a range map
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the little raven?
The little raven (Corvus mellori) is a species of the family Corvidae that is native to southeastern Australia. An adult individual is about 48–50 cm (19–19.5 in) in length, with completely black plumage, beak, and legs; as with all Australian species of Corvus, the black feathers have a grey base, and the iris of the adult bird is white (typical also of some related species from islands to the north of Australia). Although the little raven was first named by Gregory Mathews in 1912, it was only in 1967 that there was consensus to separate it from the Australian raven (C. coronoides) as a distinct species.
From the Wikipedia article “Little raven” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Little_raven&oldid=1365402575), 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.
Is the little raven endangered?
The little 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. What the categories mean.
How is the little raven classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyCorvidae
- genusCorvus
- SpeciesCorvus mellori Mathews, 1912
Synonyms Corvus marianae mellori
Other names and names in other languages (38)
- غداف صغيرArabic
- cornella de MellorCatalan
- krkavec malýCzech
- krkavec menšíCzech
- cigfran fachWelsh
- DværgravnDanish
- GesellschaftskräheGerman
- Μικρό ΚοράκιGreek
- eta korvoEsperanto
- Cuervo de MellorSpanish
- eukalüptivaresEstonian
- غراب کوچکPersian
- pikkukorppiFinnish
- Petit CorbeauFrench
- Petite CorneilleFrench
- bjelooki gavranCroatian
- társas varjúHungarian
- Հարավավստրալիական ագռավArmenian
- Corvo imperiale minoreItalian
- Corvo piccolo australianoItalian
- ミナミコワタリガラスJapanese
- mažasis kranklysLithuanian
- Zhį́ʼii yázhíNavajo
- Kleine RaafDutch
- flokkravnNorwegian
- kruk małyPolish
- کاروس ملوریWestern Panjabi
- corvo-pequenoPortuguese
- Южноавстралийский воронRussian
- Южноавстралийская воронаRussian
- krkavec družnýSlovak
- Mali australijski gavranSerbian
- småkorpSwedish
- Küçük KuzgunTurkish
- крук малийUkrainian
- 小渡鴉Chinese
- 小渡鸦Chinese
- 澳洲小鴉Chinese
Relatives of the little 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
CompareLittle raven vs Common ravenLittle raven vs RookLittle raven vs Hooded crowLittle raven vs Carrion crow
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the little raven?
An adult little raven weighs 513.8 g – 567 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the little raven live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the little raven for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
Is the little raven endangered?
The little raven is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the little raven?
The little raven (Corvus mellori) 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). Little raven (Corvus mellori). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/little-raven
“Little raven (Corvus mellori).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/little-raven.
@misc{little_raven_2026,
title = {Little raven (Corvus mellori)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/little-raven},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}