[ **up: [[Corvidae]]** ] --- # Ravens - [[2024-0722. Common Ravens are confident, inquisitive birds.|Common Ravens are confident, inquisitive birds.]][^1] --- ## Anatomy - [[2024-0722. Common Ravens are entirely black, including their legs and eyes.|'Common Ravens are entirely black, including their legs and eyes.']][^1] - [[2024-0722. Ravens' beaks have a curved tip at the end of the upper mandible, which make it impossible for them to pierce even the skin of a grey squirrel.]][^2] --- ## Diet - [[2024-0722. Common Ravens will eat anything they can get a hold of.|’Common Ravens will eat almost anything they can get hold of. They eat carrion; small animals from the size of mice and baby tortoises up to adult Rock Pigeons and nestling Great Blue Herons; eggs; grasshoppers, beetles, scorpions, and other arthropods; fish; wolf and sled-dog dung; grains, buds, and berries; pet food; and many types of human food including unattended picnic items and garbage.’]][^1] --- ## Reproduction ### Mating - [[2024-0722. Ravens mate for life (and they live a very long time).|'Ravens mate for life, and that life could be as long as fifty years.']][^3] - [[2024-0722. Mating is reserved for those ravens able to obtain territory and become a resident, nesting pair.|'Mating … is reserved for the few who are able to obtain a territory and become a nesting, resident pair. The size of raven territories varies according to the abundance of food. Heinrich argues that unmated ravens flock together in order to compete for food with nesting pairs, who vigorously defend their territory (1989). Large, swirling flocks of ravens and groups of roosting ravens are comprised of those who do not have a territory and cannot nest.']][^3] - [[2024-0722. When a raven's mate dies, it will take another mate.|When a raven’s mate dies, it will take another mate.]][^4] --- ### Nesting - [[2024-0722. A raven nest may be refurbished and used by successive pairs of ravens.|'A raven nest is often refurbished and used by successive pairs of ravens.']][^3] - [[2024-0722. The soft inner cup of a raven’s nest is lined with animal fur, shredded bark, wool, etc.|‘The soft inner nest cup [of a raven’s nest] is lined with animal fur, shredded bark, wool, or other suitable material.’]][^3] + [[2024-0722. Ravens prefer to build their nests in easily defensible locations.|'Ravens generally build their large stick nests on cliff faces or in conifers where it is easier to defend themselves from predators, and they can also build their nests on telephone poles and high-tension power-line towers.']][^3] - [[2024-0722. Common Raven nesting facts.|Common raven nesting facts (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)]] --- ### Offspring - [[2024-0722. 'One half of raven young do not survive their first year.'|'One half of raven young do not survive their first year.']][^3] --- ## Raven–Raven Interactions - [[2024-0722. Common Ravens aren't as social as crows.|Common Ravens aren’t as social as crows.]][^3] - [[2024-0722. The size of raven territories varies according to the abundance of foods.|'The size of raven territories varies according to the abundance of food.']][^3] --- ## Raven–Non-human Animal interactions - [[2024-0722. It is likely that the first large carnivore with which the raven partnered was the wolf, not the human hunter.|It is likely that the first large carnivore with which the raven partnered was the wolf, not the human hunter.]][^5] [[2024-0223. There is a symbiotic relationship between ravens and larger carnivorous animals.|There is a symbiotic relationship between ravens and larger carnivorous animals.]][^2] --- ## Raven–Human Bonds & interactions ### Ravens & hunting - [[2024-0722. Ravens and humans have worked together since the earliest times.]][^2] - [[Human hunter-gatherers may have used ravens to help find scavengeable meat.]][^6] - [[2024-0722. Scottish hunters associate a raven croaking with a successful hunt.|Scottish hunters associate a raven croaking with a successful hunt.]][^6] ### Ravens & divination - [[2024-0722. In ancient Ireland, people believed the calls of ravens predicted future events.|In ancient Ireland, people believed the calls of ravens predicted future events.]][^7] ### Ravens & death - [[2024-0722. The association of the raven with death was likely reinforced by the raven's feeding on human corpses.|The association of the raven with death was likely reinforced by the raven's feeding on human corpses.]][^8] [^1]: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, ‘Common Raven: Life History’, *All about Birds*, retrieved 15 April 2024, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Raven/id. [^2]: Betty Coon Wheelwright, ‘[[Wheelwright. ‘A Storytelling of Ravens’, 2013.|A Storytelling of Ravens]]’, *Jung Journal: Culture & Psyche* 7, no. 1, (2013), p. 9. [^3]: Betty Coon Wheelwright, ‘[[Wheelwright. ‘A Storytelling of Ravens’, 2013.|A Storytelling of Ravens]]’, p. 7. [^4]: Betty Coon Wheelwright, ‘[[Wheelwright. ‘A Storytelling of Ravens’, 2013.|A Storytelling of Ravens]]’, p. 6. [^5]: Betty Coon Wheelwright, ‘[[Wheelwright. ‘A Storytelling of Ravens’, 2013.|A Storytelling of Ravens]]’, pp. 10–11. [^6]: Betty Coon Wheelwright, ‘[[Wheelwright. ‘A Storytelling of Ravens’, 2013.|A Storytelling of Ravens]]’, pp. 9–10. [^7]: Betty Coon Wheelwright, ‘[[Wheelwright. ‘A Storytelling of Ravens’, 2013.|A Storytelling of Ravens]]’, p. 15. [^8]: Betty Coon Wheelwright, ‘[[Wheelwright. ‘A Storytelling of Ravens’, 2013.|A Storytelling of Ravens]]’, p. 14.