The Common Raven has a long and storied connection to human life and folklore. This is likely due to the fact that it’s a conspicuous, large, all black bird (larger in wingspan, body length, and overall mass than a Red-tailed Hawk!) with a very high level of intelligence. We’ve been fascinated by them, and they have learned to exploit living in proximity to us. In many cultures the raven is viewed paradoxically as a symbol of wisdom, creation, and evil, warfare and death. Native Americans of the Northwest regard ravens as being the creator of earth, moon, sun, and stars but also see them as tricksters, stealing fire from the sun, and dropping stolen salmon in rivers all over the world. Legend has it that if the ravens at the Tower of London ever leave, the British Empire will fall.
Being willing to share spaces with humans, ravens have allowed us to easily view their unique habits. The largest-bodied of all passerines, Common Ravens have been known to work together to solve novel problems, leading them to be fearsome predators. They can raid seabird colonies by working in pairs and are known to wait in trees to attack newborn lambs. Being omnivores, ravens will eat almost anything and can thrive in natural landscapes and cities where food is plentiful and easy to find. Increasing raven populations have threatened vulnerable species including desert tortoises, California Condors, Marbled Murrelets, and Least Terns, with wildlife biologists devising ways to help those species, with mixed success. Most common in young birds, ravens partake in complex “play” activities that include belly slides down inclines, dropping and catching objects in flight, snow “bathing,” playing “tug-of-war” or “king-of-the-hill,” or pulling the tail of a predator. Adults are acrobatic fliers, employing barrel rolls, somersaults, and flying upside down, up to a half mile!
The Common Raven is one of the most widespread birds in the world occurring over much of the Northern Hemisphere in nearly all habitats except tropical rain forests. They are in the family Corvidae along with crows, jays, and magpies, all highly intelligent species. In Southeast Arizona, Chihuahuan Ravens are very similar looking birds and pose identification challenges for a lot of us. They are slightly smaller, make slightly different sounds, have proportionally longer nasal bristles, and occur mostly in Chihuahuan Desert grasslands. Surprisingly, there was a nesting pair right here in Tucson at Sam Lena Park in 2021!
Photo by Mick Thompson
