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A member of the family of birds
known as the Corvidae, the Common Raven is the largest of the
Passerifonnes, or perching birds. It is found throughout most
of the Northern Hemisphere in a wide variety of habitats. Ravens
are excellent fliers, sometimes soaring to great heights, but
most often engaging in aerial acrobatics. There is no mistaking
its raucous call, which is slightly lower pitched than its relative,
the Chihuahuan Raven.
The Common Raven is a fairly large bird
with a long, heavy bill and a long tail, wedged tail. This helps
to tell them apart from hawks and crows. Ravens probably first
breed at 3 or 4 years of age and they mate for life. They often
form loose flocks during the day and congregate for roosting
at night. In Fairbanks, Alaska, as many as 800 have been seen
in one roost. They do not undertake long migrations, but breeding
birds usually relocate for nesting each year.
Ravens consume wide variety of both
plant and animal matter. They are notorious scavengers and at
times prey on small animals. They also have the habit, like most
hawks and owls, of regurgitating un-digestible food in the form
of a pellet. The Raven has often played important roles in cultures,
mythologies, and writings: Ravens disobeyed Noah during the great
flood by failing to return to the ark after being sent to search
for land.
The raven was used as an emblem by raiding
Viking warriors in Europe, and has been written up in countless
disparaging ways in western literature. In Norse mythology, the
god Odin used two ravens named Thought and Memory, to fly the
world each day in order to inform him of what was happening. |
