Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield described the Australian raven in 1827, its species name coronoides highlighting its similarity with the carrion crow (C. corone).

An omnivorous and opportunistic feeder, the Australian raven eats a wide variety of plant and animal material, from fruits and seeds to lizards, chicks of other bird species, and small mammals; they will also scour waste bins and disposal sites for human food waste, such as various produce, meats, seafood, eggs, etc.

Additionally, ravens aid in environmental "cleanup"—much like vultures on other continents—by helping rid the area of potentially dangerous pathogens which could deploy on carrion, stillborn farm animals (or other deceased mammals and birds), even scavenging newborn mammalian faeces.

The Australian raven was first described by Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield in 1827, when they reported George Caley's early notes on the species from the Sydney district.

[3] The two naturalists regarded the Australian raven as very similar in appearance to the carrion crow (C. corone) of Europe,[4] though they noted it was larger with a longer bill.

[10] In 1877 Richard Bowdler Sharpe recognised two species, but recorded that the feather bases of the type specimen of C. coronoides were white.

Initial single gene genetic analysis of the genus using mitochondrial DNA showed the three raven species to belong to one lineage and the two crows to another.

[19] Ian Rowley proposed that the common ancestor of the five species diverged into a tropical crow and temperate raven sometime after entering Australia from the north,[21] which molecular evidence indicates occurred in the early Pliocene epoch around 4 million years ago.

The wings are long and broad, with the longest of its ten primary feathers (usually the seventh but occasionally the eighth) almost reaching the end of the tail when the bird is at rest.

[24] The territorial call of the Australian raven is a slow, high ah-ah-aaaah (similar to the near-open front unrounded vowel (IPA:/æ/)) with the last note drawn out.

[31] When giving this call, the species has a horizontal posture, holding its head forward and body parallel to the ground, while perched on a prominent position.

There is a variety of contact calls: a pair often makes a low murmuring sound when preening each other while roosting, and members of a flock carry on with a quiet chattering while at rest.

[32] The Australian raven is common throughout eastern Australia,[30] and southern Western Australia (the populations being connected by a narrow strip across the Nullarbor Plain), but it is rarer and more scattered in the north, with isolated sightings in Cape York at Coen, Windmill Creek and the Mitchell River,[33] and becoming more common south of Rockhampton in central Queensland.

In central and western regions, Australian ravens and Torresian crows vie for the scattered uncommon trees and outcrops, and only one or the other are found there.

The Australian raven is thought to be largely sedentary, with most movement of over 16 km (9.9 mi) due to flocks of non-breeding subadult birds.

[39] A single breeding pair and their brood can occupy a territory of up to around 120 hectares (300 acres) and remains there year-round, though groups of ravens may enter this area to forage.

[38] Australian ravens will defend their territory by chasing, dive-bombing and occasionally striking the backs of birds of prey, foxes or even people.

[45] Nests are generally large and untidy, consisting of a bowl or platform of sticks lined with grasses, barks, and feathers that can be up to 5 cm (2.0 in) thick.

New nests are built each year generally, as the re-use of old ones might spread disease or parasites—nests become caked with faeces as the nestlings grow and the parents cannot keep up with its removal.

[45] The female develops a brood patch—a patch of bare skin on the bird's underparts that reddens and becomes much more extensive from around three weeks before the first egg is laid.

Late clutches have poor survival rates, possibly due to chicks getting dehydrated on hot days as the year progresses or being eaten by wedge-tailed eagles.

Invertebrates commonly eaten include spiders, millipedes, centipedes (which ravens behead before eating), grasshoppers, cicadas and caterpillars (especially of the family Noctuidae), which are important in feeding nestlings.

Australian ravens have been reported killing birds of such size as young galahs (Eolophus roseicapillus) and starlings (Sturnus vulgaris).

[19] Foraging takes place in the early morning or late afternoon; birds rest in the hotter part of the day.

[32] However, they occasionally feed in trees—Australian ravens forage eucalypt foliage for Christmas beetles (Anoplognathus), and devote a substantial amount of time to look for nests and eggs to eat.

[47] Ravens use their bill rather than their feet to explore or turn items on the ground (rocks or sticks) over or hold or snatch food while flying.

[32] Australian ravens have adapted well to eating food scraps in urban areas, such as school playgrounds, rubbish tips, bins outside supermarkets or restaurants, abattoirs, piggeries and farmyards.

[53] Scientific observation in the country's southeast showed that the killing of healthy lambs was rare, but that sick animals were predisposed to being attacked.

In the Kulin nation in central Victoria he was known as Waa (also Wahn or Waang) and was regarded as one of two moiety ancestors, the other being the more sombre eaglehawk Bunjil.

Noongar people were socially divided into two moieties or kinships: waardarng-maat and marrnetj-maat, or members of the Australian raven and long-billed corella (Cacatua tenuirostris) respectively.