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We decided to search on the term "birds." This proved to be a good idea; the first category returned was Yahoo!'s Birds category. Then things got a little tricky... After reaching the category, we scanned the list of sites -- we even went to a few -- but no luck in finding the difference between the three birds. So we went deeper and checked out other bird-related categories such as Aviaries, Institutes, and Species. Still no luck. Not yet ready to fly the coop, we changed strategies and searched for "crows." At last a promising result: the American Society of Crows and Ravens (ASCAR).
Once we reached the site, the logical destination was FAQs About Crows and Ravens. And there it was, question number four: What's the difference between crows and ravens? We learned that ravens are about one-third larger than crows, have somewhat heavier bills, more fan-shaped tails, and sometimes sport a ruff (mane) of feathers around the throat. The answer goes on to explain that crows and ravens are essentially identical in color, shape, and behavior. Finding the difference between the crow and raven was relatively simple, but what about blackbirds? We found a link for Blackbirds from About.com's collection of Birding links. Eventually, we learned that "blackbirds" are those classified in the subfamily Icterinae, which include orioles, grackles, cowbirds and, of course, blackbirds.
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