The largest of the songbirds, the Common Raven is one of the most widespread species in the world, found across North America and Eurasia, southward into Central America and northern Africa. Perhaps the smartest of all birds, the raven can survive in Arctic, temperate, and desert environments.It is a very large crow that is all glossy black. It has a relatively long, slightly curved bill and a long, graduated or wedge-shaped tail. It has long pointed wings with obvious separation of the primaries while soaring. It has elongated throat feathers. American and Northwestern Crows are smaller, have rounded or square tails, and very different voices. Chihuahuan Raven is smaller, has a shorter bill with longer nasal bristles, a different voice, and whitish, not gray, bases to the body feathers.The Common Raven is an acrobatic flier. It frequently is seen to make rolls and somersaults in the air. It has even been observed flying upside down for as far as one kilometer (0.62 mi). In winter, young ravens finding a carcass will call other ravens to the prize. They apparently do this to overwhelm the local territory owners by force of numbers to gain access to the food. Increasing raven populations can have significant negative effects on the populations of some vulnerable prey species, such as desert tortoises and Least Terns. Ravens can cause trouble for people too. Ravens have been implicated in causing power outages by contaminating insulators on power lines, fouling satellite dishes at the Goldstone Deep Space Site, peeling radar absorbent material off buildings at the Chinal Lake Naval Weapons center, pecking holes in airplane wings, and stealing golf balls. Breeding pairs of Common Ravens hold territories and try to exclude all other ravens throughout the year.The Common Raven often uses sheep wool to line its nest. When the female leaves the nest for a while she may cover the eggs with the wool.(Cornell Lab of Ornithology. All About Birds (Online)). |
