The article presents the results of a linguistic experiment aimed at studying the ordinary semantics of voron / kuskun (raven) bionyms in the Russian and the Tuvan languages. The study was conducted within the scope of ethnoconceptology and describes the semantics of lexical units from the point of view of ordinary native speakers. The main methods of the work undertaken were an association experiment consisting of 6 tasks aimed at various layers of semantics, and a comparative method. The experiment made it possible to identify significant concepts in the lexeme. Due to comparison, the universal and nationally specific characteristics of the studied bionyms were revealed. Common and differential features were combined according to various aspects characterizing the bionym. The universal properties of bionyms are determined by the objective properties of the denotation (bird as a categorical feature of the bionym, physical characteristics of the bird, habitat, and habits). The national-specific originality of bionyms is found to a greater extent in precedent texts and is associated with the cultural peculiarities of the semantics of the bionym.