Corvus mellori
Silhouette: Peileppe · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
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.
In the 1960s, the CSIRO were intensively studying Australian raven populations and their relationship to lambing and sheep in southeastern Australia. It became evident that there was a smaller species of raven living alongside the Australian raven. These birds lived in smaller trees, had smaller throat hackles and lacked the bare skin of their larger relative. They were also nomadic and made different calls. Ian Rowley investigated old scientific names assigned to type specimens and concluded that they matched Corvus mellori as described by Gregory Mathews in 1912 as... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Flinders Chase | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Kosciuszko National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Wilsons Promontory National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Flinders Ranges National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Hattah-Kulkyne National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Little Raven sighting in Wilsons Promontory National Park on a given day, based on 165 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 28th most-seen of the 138 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–February and November
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Little Raven in Wilsons Promontory National Park on a given day, against about 10% in May, the lowest month.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Little Raven sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 8
Of the 8 parks where we can rate Little Raven sightings, Wilsons Promontory National Park ranks 4th at about 30%. The best odds are in Great Otway National Park (Australia, about 40%), Flinders Chase (Australia, about 40%) and Kosciuszko National Park (Australia, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Corvus
The closest relatives of the Little Raven that you can see in Wilsons Promontory National Park (genus Corvus, Crows and Ravens) are Forest Raven (about 50%) and Australian Raven (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Little Raven is recorded against all the birds logged in Wilsons Promontory National Park (165 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
