facts about ravens
By zteve t evans
In North America, the raven (Corvus corax) is the largest passerine, or perching bird, to be found. Ravens are completely black in colour, including legs, eyes and wings. They have a wingspan of up to 4 feet and around 2 feet long from their beak to tip of their tail. Weighing around 3 pounds, they are the largest members of the crow family.
Ravens are skilful fliers
Ravens are powerful and skilful fliers and know how to use the wind to soar high in the air. They are capable of performing similar aerobatic displays as birds of prey. This behaviour is seen at its most spectacular with the mating rituals of the breeding season when they execute elaborate aerial rolls, dives and sky dances in courtship. It is widely thought that ravens take a mate for life.
Nesting
They have a wide range of habitat from forests, coastal cliffs, deserts and even the Tower of London where it is said that if the ravens should forsake the tower then both it and the kingdom will fall. They make nests of sticks in trees or in suitable holes in rocks and cliffs where the females lay from three to seven eggs in the springtime. When they hatch both male and female will look after the fledglings who for several months will remain dependent on their parents.
They spend much of the year in couples or in small groups, but in the winter months ravens will form flocks foraging for food in the daylight hours and roosting during the night.
Ravens are omnivores
Ravens are omnivores having a wide ranging diet of eggs, chicks of other birds, fish, nuts, seeds, small animals, and carrion. They seek out organic remains in human garbage and scavenge just about anything they come across.
They are also notorious thieves stealing the food of other birds and animals. It has been known for them to act in pairs where one raven attracts the attention and the other will steal the food. They have also been known to work in teams to hunt prey that a single raven would find too big.
Ravens are powerful and skilful fliers and know how to use the wind to soar high in the air. They are capable of performing similar aerobatic displays as birds of prey. This behaviour is seen at its most spectacular with the mating rituals of the breeding season when they execute elaborate aerial rolls, dives and sky dances in courtship. It is widely thought that ravens take a mate for life.
Nesting
They have a wide range of habitat from forests, coastal cliffs, deserts and even the Tower of London where it is said that if the ravens should forsake the tower then both it and the kingdom will fall. They make nests of sticks in trees or in suitable holes in rocks and cliffs where the females lay from three to seven eggs in the springtime. When they hatch both male and female will look after the fledglings who for several months will remain dependent on their parents.
They spend much of the year in couples or in small groups, but in the winter months ravens will form flocks foraging for food in the daylight hours and roosting during the night.
Ravens are omnivores
Ravens are omnivores having a wide ranging diet of eggs, chicks of other birds, fish, nuts, seeds, small animals, and carrion. They seek out organic remains in human garbage and scavenge just about anything they come across.
They are also notorious thieves stealing the food of other birds and animals. It has been known for them to act in pairs where one raven attracts the attention and the other will steal the food. They have also been known to work in teams to hunt prey that a single raven would find too big.
Harbingers
In many cultures and regions of the world the raven is often seen as a harbinger of bad news. Semitic, Greek, Chinese, Siberian Egyptian people see ravens as harbingers of storms and bad weather, while in some European, Asian and African cultures the raven is seen to forecast death.
Ravens are very communicative and expressive birds having the ability to express surprise, happiness, rage, tenderness and emotion. They have make loud croaking sounds that signals alarm, or threat and have been known to imitate other birds such as crows.
Ravens are clever tricksters
They are very intelligent birds and are thought to have the ability to use logic to solve problems and possess a high capability for learning. Tests have shown that they can perform to a high degree many complex tests of logic and trial and error, and it is claimed they have been taught to count.
Native North Americans honoured ravens for their intelligence and they often portrayed them as clever tricksters with a cheeky and playful character. They have been known to tease wolves by tweaking their tails, and when the wolf tries to retaliate they quickly fly off, repeating this behaviour, over and over again.
Clever and cunning birds
Ravens are very cunning and have been known to manipulate other animals in to doing work for them. Because they have a beak that is not designed for tearing open the tough hide of a corpse they have been known to attract larger meat-eating animals such as foxes and wolves by mimicking their calls so that the carcass can be torn apart and allow them access to the meat.
Ravens were once considered a pest in the USA and exterminated because they were believed to steal farm eggs and kill small farmyard and domesticated animals, but today their populations have increased throughout the USA and many other regions in the Northern Hemisphere also settling and adapting to life in urban areas.
© 25/08/2009 zteve t evans
In many cultures and regions of the world the raven is often seen as a harbinger of bad news. Semitic, Greek, Chinese, Siberian Egyptian people see ravens as harbingers of storms and bad weather, while in some European, Asian and African cultures the raven is seen to forecast death.
Ravens are very communicative and expressive birds having the ability to express surprise, happiness, rage, tenderness and emotion. They have make loud croaking sounds that signals alarm, or threat and have been known to imitate other birds such as crows.
Ravens are clever tricksters
They are very intelligent birds and are thought to have the ability to use logic to solve problems and possess a high capability for learning. Tests have shown that they can perform to a high degree many complex tests of logic and trial and error, and it is claimed they have been taught to count.
Native North Americans honoured ravens for their intelligence and they often portrayed them as clever tricksters with a cheeky and playful character. They have been known to tease wolves by tweaking their tails, and when the wolf tries to retaliate they quickly fly off, repeating this behaviour, over and over again.
Clever and cunning birds
Ravens are very cunning and have been known to manipulate other animals in to doing work for them. Because they have a beak that is not designed for tearing open the tough hide of a corpse they have been known to attract larger meat-eating animals such as foxes and wolves by mimicking their calls so that the carcass can be torn apart and allow them access to the meat.
Ravens were once considered a pest in the USA and exterminated because they were believed to steal farm eggs and kill small farmyard and domesticated animals, but today their populations have increased throughout the USA and many other regions in the Northern Hemisphere also settling and adapting to life in urban areas.
© 25/08/2009 zteve t evans
References and Attributions
Copyright zteve t evans August 25, 2009
Copyright zteve t evans August 25, 2009