https://twitter.com/gunsnrosesgirl3/status/1760060466858983842

I approve!

Hehehe. Too Freaking Funny

A variety of tests suggest they are among the brightest.

Some ravens used to come and observe on a high lead logging job in my youth. Eventually they became fairly tame and did comical raven aerobatics at lunchtime....and of course we rewarded the airshow with leftovers.
One day I had left my rucksack with water and lunch on a prominent stump, and one of the ravens had worked it's way under the flap while the other acted as sentinel. The raven didn't do too much damage, leaving the bologna and cheese for a can of sardines which it seemed fascinated with. It pecked and scratched for awhile, then took flight with the little can to a raven approved altitude and dropped it on the rocks below. Then down to examine the can, and repeat several times, I assume, hoping the can would burst. So at lunchtime I went down and retrieved the can and opened it on a nearby stump. They cleaned it up in short time, but quarreling the whole time. I'll never know, but I wondered if it was the odor of the can, the picture of the sardines, or just a bright shiny toy...which they seem to love. They will play with a ball of aluminum foil for hours.

Not trying to take away from Ravens smarts, but when we were kids, house we used to walk by had a crow in big cage, but it was inside a stockade fence, that crow would talk all day, we thought it was a man talking to us , but we could look through knot holes and talk to crow, amazing what he would say back to us kids, funny!

Crows are probably raven-smart. Corvids both.

Ravens are known to problem solve and use tools. That like chîmp smart.

Two raven interactions. We have two pairs that have been on this property since we bought it. I'm still mad at one for taking a 1/2" Snap On socket when I was working on a car in front of our shop. Went in the house and came out just as he picked up the socket and flew off.

Soon after we purchased the property I was using a D6 Cat to bust out some old, huge pine stumps. These were from the 40s and 50s. The ravens would circle over and wait until I started pushing on the stump and would pick off the mice that ran out. One would pick off a mouse and head to the nest on BLM property. The other would kill 3 or 4 mice and then take all of them at once.

Now, when we have Costco chicken carcasses or other meat left over I take it to the lower shop. Within a minute the ravens are circling overhead. They do get a bit miffed if I show up at the lower shop without food - and they let me know it.

They are hell on turkey eggs and chicks.

Crows are not the problem solvers ravens are. And neither apparently is as good as a NZ parrot.

In Kotzebue one day i saw a pair of ravens mating. He jumped off, she fluffed her feathers and flew off, two other ravens came over and beat the crap out of first male raven.

Probably their sister or mom....

We watched a group of them a few years back playing in the snow like kids. They'd fly up the slope and slide back down on their bellies or upside down on their backs. The ones at the deer lease keep a close eye on the gutpile by camp and will double team and fight the caracaras and buzzards.

"Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore.'" With apologies to Mr. Poe.

L.W

ironbender;
Good evening my friend, I trust all is well as can be with you and your fine family tonight.

Thanks for the video and for those who've added raven stories, it's interesting to me.

We were sitting waiting for BC Ferries to take us to what was then known as The Queen Charlottes, now Haida Gwaii, in the parking lot at Prince Rupert.

Suddenly out of the blue there was a loud bang as a shell fish of some kind hit the vehicle beside us, which happened to be empty as the owner must have gone to get a coffee.

Anyways the raven who dropped it subsequently picked it up forthwith, took it aloft again and this time dropped it onto the pavement, where it broke open. It landed, picked out the contents and flew away.

We still talk about that day and how we were glad it didn't drop it on our Toyota pickup, although it wasn't in perfect shape anymore, but still didn't need extra dents either.

Thanks again and all the best.

Dwayne

“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door —
Only this, and nothing more."

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; — vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow — sorrow for the lost Lenore —
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore —
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me — filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating,
Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door —
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; —
This it is, and nothing more."

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you"— here I opened wide the door; —
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?"
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!" —
Merely this, and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice:
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore —
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; —
'Tis the wind and nothing more."

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore;
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door —
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door —
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.
Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore —
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

Much I marveled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning— little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blest with seeing bird above his chamber door —
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as "Nevermore.”

I was elk hunting in Colorado and one morning, just after sunrise, I was overlooking a narrow valley. I heard a loud ruckus to my left, up the valley. It was about 25 or 30 ravens and they were riding the wind, coasting down the valley. I watched them until they were out of sight. About 20 minutes later they came flying up the valley, fighting the wind all the way.

A little while after they were out of sight I heard them again and down the valley they came, squawking and croaking all the way down the valley. They did that two more times that morning and just left me shaking my head. I almost felt like taking a couple of pot shots at them to run them off.

Might be smart, but cant make it to the Super Bowl.

I had three crows and two ravens as pets from 1964 through 1976. The crows were in upstate NY and the ravens in Tucson. Will say the crows were not as wild more easily tamed. The two white necked ravens were better flyers. Both species would get into everything you owned if they could. One time one raven was accidentally left in the house. There was an open tool box. Every piece that the bird could lift was hidden all over the house! He tucked many items in folds of cloth like blankets on bed or into the couches and chairs where the cushions met the backrest. A deck of cards had every card thrown. I put jesses on the ravens so I could perch them on a crate in my 240z. They loved going on fast rides and being flown in various parts of the desert. Sometimes I would take them to Gates Pass and let them loose. They would soar on the winds. A few times they flew to catback mountain and back. Watched them outmaneuver a falcon while there. As I reflect on those days I think it might have not been in the best interests for wild birds, but they were exciting intelligent pets.

Great story. Thanks for posting that.

I sat on a high mountain ridge one late AM glossing for deer in the lower ridges and draws below one morning near Cloudcroft.

The wind was blowing up the ridge pretty stiff and the Ravens and similar sized hawks were holding in the air currents above me and actually seemed to be playing together a bit as they were held aloft by the updraft coming up the mountains east of the White Sands Range and Alamogordo while doing their acrobatics.

I wish I'd have had a cell phone with camera to record that hack then. Doubt I'll ever see anything like that again.

I feed a few big males every day.
They are so tame.

I feed the meat scraps.
I think their favorite is roasted chicken leftovers..🤣

Going down Oregon's Santiam Pass and a raven dropped out of the sky and rode the bow wave above the cab of a log truck ahead of me for about 10 miles down the west side. Barely moved a wing the whole distance.

They are terrible pests in Alberta. I shoot everyone that will sit still at under 300 yards

Beautiful rifle. I used to get a bunch every year in quail season years ago with a 22-250 but the ones in this area of the desert had more of a brownish color.

Magpies are also corvids and just as intelligent.

On the way home from an old job along a stretch of dirt road, they used to perch on the power poles. As most of you know, if you are in a vehicle and are moving they stay put, but the moment you stop they’re outta there! To remedy this, we would drive by and slow down while the passenger jumps out on the off side of the vehicle with a 20 ga. That gives you just enough of a distraction because they’re watching the vehicle so the shooter to blast them. After about three passes though they figure out what vehicle it is and take off well before you get in range. Then you have to change trucks and you’re good to go for 2-3 more times. It becomes a bit of a cat and mouse game and they catch on quickly.

Magpies and crows will decoy. Not ravens from what I’ve seen.

A group of crows would hang out in the trees above the tenth tee box at the local track. They knew you had snacks in the cart from stopping at the clubhouse at the turn. While you were teeing off they'd steal your food. I've seen them fly off with muffins and hot dogs.

We learn too. Post a guard over the food.

ironbender: Ravens are indeed smart!
They learn "guns ranges" and "humans with guns" quickly.
Of recent though many have not yet learned the flat trajectory and range of a 204 Ruger Rifle - and those nest robbers are done being smart.
They also peck the eyes out of newborn calves and one of the cattle ranchers I Varmint Hunt on his place pleads with me to diminish their numbers.
Two winters ago he lost 6 newborn calves to being blinded by Ravens.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Greetings to you as well, my south neighbor! 😏
I’ve seen similar with gulls opening shells. We had a raven nest out back behind the house last spring/summer. They raised quite a racket, especially at feeding time. Also fun to watch the fake flight to chase eagles that entered the no fly zone. Then one day, it became quite and they were gone. Very interesting to watch.

Haha. Great to know.

I hade a horse ranch in B.C. just above Ferry county in Wash State. and mice were every where ,set traps every night. In the morning i would place the catch on bench out the front of the cabin the Ravens had breaky almost every morning.

When i was in Grande Prairie AB. hunting the ravens would go after grouse that were on the gravel roads getting small gravel for their gullets.

Norm

Have seen them on mountain summits over 10,000ft in the Cascades of WA/OR.

I had two crows when I was a kid. Lol, they are huge trouble makers a lot of fun to watch, they harassed to hell out of the neighborhood cats. LMAO was funny as hell to watch them sneak up on a cat sleeping in the sun and watch it pull the cats tail, all hell would break loose!!

I have watched crows pick up pecans, fly up about 30-40 ft, and drop them on the parking lot. They would do it until the pecan busted then eat it and go get another one.

One of my crows loved to watch the kids play hockey on the pond across the street. He would sit in a tree and caw rapidly when the puck being passed towards the goal.

Our regular mailman would put a dog biscuit on the ground and grind it up so it could be eaten. He liked the crow and never had a problem with him. The mailman was replaced with another. The crow would approach the new guy expecting a treat which he didn't get. The crow decided to badger the new guy while he delivered the mail for the neighborhood. I got a letter from the postmaster saying I had to cage the crow during delivery hours or the neighborhood would not receive mail.

People would visit our house. The crow would show up and land on the ground walking up to size up the new person. He would do a few exploratory taps on the person's shoe and look at him. The owner would grin and say what a cool bird or similar. The crow would then do a very aggressive jab with his beak just above the shoe line where the sock showed and nail the person HARD and look at him again as if to say, How does that feel? Did I get to you?

The crows loved to ride the windshield wipers as the car accelerated. When the speed got to 30 MPH or so the birds would open their wings and bank up and away.

One fun thing they liked was my rolling a coin down the steep asphalt driveway. They would fly to it and catch it but it wasn't easy getting it back. I ended up using washers.

The stories go on and on....

Ravens are the smartest animal in the high desert. It’s said they can communicate with each other and have long memories. They will sit there even after you stop but the moment a rifle comes out the window they all know. Crows are smart not nearly as ravens. Magpies are pretty smart too. But again. Not Raven smart.

My uncle has a pet raven, over 100 years old it belonged to his mom when she was a young, my uncle is 86 now. Smart bird and it sounds just like Pete when it talks.

Buttgig?

Bastards cost me at least one grade point in Ornitholgy. Dyke prof claimed they were only scavengers, I related how I had watched them in obvious hunting/ predation mode over my brother's fields outside Fairbanks, probably for voles or maybe frogs. They would fly, hover, than dive into the overgrown field vegetation for something, then repeat.

Same thing I saw frigate? birds doing in a lagoon in Cancun last week.

Dyke bitch didn't like being refuted. I should have kept my mouth shut. Proving ravens are at least sometimes smarter than some people. In this case, two!

For those interested in reducing their local pop. of ravens, be careful, they're protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-50/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-10/subpart-B/section-10.13

They are notorious for raiding other birds nests of eggs and hatchlings.

I could put raiding nests and hatchlings under scavageing, or better predacious scavenging. Not a lot of "hunting" going on there, but that's pretty nit-picky.

There is a white, not albino, one wintering in Anchorage. Or was. It was first spotted on the Kenai Peninsula last summer, but apparently moved up to Anchorage for better winter pickings. Probably won't return to the Kenai, but we will see, if it survives.

You can probably google up a pic of it.

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/wildlife/2023/10/24/rare-white-raven-spotted-in-anchorage/

Hey! my first link. Probably last too!

That happens quite a bit around here. "Supposed" to be illegal to kill 'em, but I've never heard of it being pushed by LE.

Before the town got so close to us, ravens would steal golf balls at the course, and drop them on cross ties in the corrals and fence corners.
It got so bad, the pro started carrying a shotgun in a bag when he went around the course - and on the mower while mowing.
When I'd gather a couple dozen balls up, I'd take them back down there and return them (mostly range balls).
The course was just under a mile from our corrals.
I'd also occasionally find one out in the pasture, usually not too far from a rock.

Hard boiled "eggs".

A 100 year old bird? Had no idea they could live near that age.

So, you’re not a bird brain? 😏

Last August we were clearing a site to build a camp. Forested area on small lake, 6 miles from nearest hamlet, 20 miles or more from nearest golf course. A log we were dragging out gouged open a dirt mound and uncovered a golf ball. The site has never been cleared before. Ravens are common in the area, best guess is a raven found that ball somewhere and dropped it. Must have carried it for miles.

Me either, per ravens, but Macaw? parrots can live to be 150 or more, Bowhead whales to at least 70 (slate harpoon point found in a hsrvested big Bowhead in the 90's, off Barrow)

that is why there is a saying, all the dead ones are crows. most people don't know the difference between a crow and a raven.

https://chirpforbirds.com/bird-brain/13-surprising-and-spooky-raven-facts/

#1: Ravens are highly intelligent

As a part of the corvid bird family, which includes crows, ravens are large black birds with brains relatively big for their size. However, one difference between ravens and crows (other than the raven’s larger size) is that ravens are more intelligent. Nonetheless, all members of the corvid family have been known to craft and use tools, plan for the future, barter, and even play games like hide-and-seek.
#2: Ravens are excellent hunters

Often hunting in groups, ravens have been known to trap and kill prey twice their size. They will also hide their food from other predators, even other ravens. In fact, they often “pretend” to hide food in a safe place while another raven is watching—only to move the food cache to another location when unobserved!
#3: Ravens can mimic human voices


In fact, they are often even better at it than parrots! These intelligent birds can also mimic animal and bird calls as well as various “manmade” sounds like a toilet flushing or a car starting.
#4: Ravens gesture to communicate

From holding up objects of interest (typically a male mating ritual to lure a female) to “pointing” at things with their beaks, ravens have been elevated to a level of communication that, until recently, was observed solely in humans and apes.
#5: Ravens can live anywhere

Found in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, ravens can live in diverse environments ranging from urban areas and forests to high deserts and tundra.
#6: Ravens remember faces

Perhaps one of the most impressive, and unsettling, facts about ravens is that they have what is called “episodic memory,” much like humans and other primates. This allows them to remember human faces and other characteristics, particularly in association with an emotion or event, which leads to our next fact.
#7: Ravens have friends…and enemies

Ravens tend to prefer companionship with other ravens, particularly if they are relatives and of the opposite sex. But raven or human, don’t cheat them or they’ll remember—and probably won’t “work” with you again! In fact, ravens are known to hold grudges for up to one month after a sour experience!
#8: A group of ravens is called an “unkindness”

And if that isn’t spooky enough, other collective nouns for ravens include a “treachery” and a “conspiracy.”
#9: Ravens travel in gangs before pairing off


In their younger years, ravens travel in small flocks before pairing off—a sort of “Friends”-like meet-cute, only Ross and Rachel mate for life in this scenario.
#10: “The Raven” poem haunted Edgar Allan Poe


The iconic poem launched Poe from a virtual nobody to an overnight success, but his newfound popularity wasn’t always easy for the writer. Children were known to follow him through the streets, flapping their arms and croaking like the poem’s namesake. Poe’s response? Shouting “Nevermore!” at them until they ran away.
#11: Ravens are powerful symbols in lore

Often associated with death, illness, or a bad omen, ravens have been featured in ancient stories from around the world and in almost every culture. For example, Swedish folklore has it that ravens are the spirits of murdered people who weren’t given Christian burials. Irish folklore sees ravens as symbols of warfare, and the Hindu deity Shani is often visualized as mounted on the back of a giant raven.
#12: There are white ravens

These light-feathered birds are actually ravens with a rare pigment condition called leucism, which gives them their fair feathers and, oftentimes, blue eyes.
#13: The raven population is exploding


Over the past decade, there has been a steady and dramatic increase of ravens in North America. Of particular note is the Mojave Desert, which has reported a staggering 700 percent increase of the black birds over the past 40 years! While this is good news in the midst of a “bird crisis” in North America and Canada, which have collectively lost nearly three billion birds since 1970, this raven boom could spell trouble for the US population of desert tortoises, which are a favorite raven delicacy.

Way back a coworker set out to research predation rates on simulated sage grouse nests. The grouse were T&E candidates at the time, ravens were/are the primary nest raider, so interest was high, and the potential for a quick and easy publication was there.

Actual nests are usually very well cloistered beneath sagebrush, so he went out with my survey grade GPS equipped technician and dispersed a full case of chicken eggs tucked well under 80 or so sagebrush canopies across three sites. Plans were to do repeated counts across 4 subsequent two-day intervals. With their first assessment, he came back to my office livid that our GPS gear was absolute garbage, he had totally wasted his time and funds, and that he would hence forth lay out a 100-m tape and physically map his egg locations. They had not found a single nest/egg. I insisted on a repeat go around and went along to run the equipment.

This time we put a chunk of local rock on the opposite side of each egg site with a washer hidden beneath. Two days later, we were out again. We found every rock and washer and only a single egg that had been essentially tucked into a rodent burrow. On the way out we did a deviation to a cornering rock jack where we found a heaping stack of shattered eggshells. Same results with not a single egg at the next two sites and the remnants piled at nearby corner posts.

I suggested a rerun with a blind and observer to document the near instantaneous disappearance rate real time, but he abandoned the effort.

later trail cam monitoring of actual nests found hens incubating for all but the very moments of day when they would do a quick run to water.

Lessons learned: 1. Ravens don't miss much. 2. High end GPS units can get one right on the money every time.

What you are saying is that Raven GPS matches human teck. smile

Norm

Ravens have great eyesight, they could have been watching you, from a distance, hide the eggs then investigated.

Yes, on the eyesight. Years back I learned one should keep an eye on magpies while hunting. We used to frequent Hells Canyon for deer that would shade up midday in scattered brush patches. Magpies crossing from one ridge to another would frequently drop down and plow into the shrubs to peck at deer we had not seen. Same same for elk in open country.

Eagles, crows, ravens, magpies, hawks, vultures, and coyotes all keep a sharp eye on one another's doings. All of those also do an early AM look along our highways for nighttime roadkill.




We don't seem to have an issue with ravens and calving.

I've heard a raven will fly toward the sound of gunshot.

I’m glad we don’t have ravens in this country after reading all this, fun to watch, but could be hell on baby calf’s, Mexican vultures are here now with our red heads, patrol every day watching them, crows are everywhere, that’s enough. I have watched ravens in Alaska standing right next to eagles, they are just out of reach, you can tell the bald’s would pull the ravens head off in a second if he could just hook em, great horned, owls and crows, same thing.

Life span:

https://thebirdsworld.com/raven-lifespan/

Cool thread, had a pet crow as a kid, rescued it with a broken wing. It could talk, demand food, say hi, and a few other phrases. It would perch on my golden retriever and ride around on his back. Pretty funny pets, and definitely intelligent. It hung around for 3 years then started leaving in winter. Think it came back for two more summers afterwards then never saw it again.

The last two winters we've had a magpie that will fly over to the loader tractor every morning and watch for mice when I move round bales.

Dang. I've often wondered how bad they are on quail.

I've got both ravens and crows here. I rarely see ravens on the ground but crows love to hunt baby rabbits in my yard. They walk under the shrubs and pine trees, pestering the adults until they get the nest.

It’s a matter of a pinion.