I recently acquired a field guide to European birds and was surprised at the similarities between their birds and ours.  For the next two weeks I’ll explore some of the intriguing discoveries I made in Birds of Europe by Svensson, Mullarney and Zetterström.

The common English names of European birds are often similar to those in North America but you can’t assume that the species are actually the same.  Here’s why there’s name confusion.  We sometimes have …

• The same common name for the same species found on both continents.  Example: peregrine falcon.
• Same-name birds with different adjectives. They’re not the same species but in the same family. Example: crows and jays discussed below.
• Same-name species that are not at all related. Example: European and American robins.
• Birds in Europe unlike any North America bird.  Example: hoopoe.

Crows, jays and ravens illustrate two of these points.

Crow, Crow:

The crow pictured at the top of this article looks like an American crow, but he’s not.  You’d have to know he lives in London to know he’s a carrion crow (Corvus corone).  Carrion crows are the same size as American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) and have the same habits.  Both are in the Corvus family, though not the same species.  Here’s an American crow.

Jay, Jay:

Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius) and blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata) have the same common name with different adjectives.  Though they look different they are both in the Corvus family and have similar habits.  It’s not a stretch to call them both jays.  Here’s what they look like.

Raven:

A raven is a raven is a raven. The common raven has the same name and is the same species on both continents: Corvus corax.  Whew!  No confusion with this one.

Watch for more European birds in the days ahead.

(photo credits: Book cover linked from Amazon.com, all other photos from Wikimedia Commons.  Click on the images to see the originals)