There are around 120 species of crow-like birds in the family Corvidae. In Australia, there are five species, including the Australian Raven (Corvus coronoides). I just love to observe these beautiful and intelligent birds.
Crows and ravens have the biggest brain to body weight ratio of all birds. The hippocampus, which is associated with spatial memory and problem-solving, is particularly well developed. Crows and ravens are at least as intelligent as the great apes, and have developed tools to access food. In Australia, one of their favourite activities is to patrol the roadside several times a day to feast on any roadkill. Juveniles, which haven’t learnt proper road sense, sometime become roadkill themselves, but it hardly ever happens to adult birds. They look very haughty when they step away from certain collision just in the nick of time.
Are you a fan of ravens and crows as well?
Kind Regards.
Tracy.
For Ragtag Daily Prompt — Orgulous; and Bird Of The Day.
Information sourced from The Conversation article, “Stone the crows! Could corvids be Australia’s smartest export?” by Stephen Debus.
I find them very fascinating.
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It must nice to have so many intelligent friends visit you on your balcony, Punam. 🙂
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Indeed, Tracy. 🙂
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Oh! I am. They really are clever! I love the post title! lol
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Thank you, Dawn. Did you read the linked article? The crows turn the cane toads upside down to avoid the poison. I think the Kimberly may be the only area that doesn’t have crows or ravens, but they sorely need them to stop the toad advance.
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Fascinating read! The cane toads up north are really a huge problem. Some nights they are like a carpet. Pretty gross!
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They seem unstoppable, Dawn. I expect they will arrive in our part of the world soon enough. I hope our ravens get the memo.
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They are a beautiful bird.
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Sure are, Lois.
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Here in New England, crows are part of the landscape, their cries a backdrop to our daily lives.
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You’ll never feel lonely with such cawing for company, Liz. 🙂
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The other nice thing is that I can actually identify them by their cries.
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That is nice.
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They are wonderful 🙂
A programme on ABC radio a few years ago interviewed a researcher who was studying ravens.
They were given tasks similar to those given to chimpanzees and mastered them in about a tenth of the time as the primates, one has to respect that kind of intelligence. Personally, I think some time in the future, it will be determined that Humankind is just one of a vast population of sentient beings on this little planet of ours.
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That is astounding, Jenny, but I can believe it. Some have been trained as spies. Today
I watched a raven pick up something squirmy. It was probably something bitey as well, because the bird proceeded to squash its quarry to death by repeatedly stomping on it. They seem rather smarter than us.
BTW, the ACT Government has just legislated dogs as sentient beings. That must be a first!
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Here there are three types of road Ravens. The new nervous ones who fly off when a car approaches, the nonchalant ones who just walk off and my favourite, the joyous Raven who skips off the road as a car approaches 🙂
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That’s so funny.
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In South Africa we have the Pied Crow.
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I have just had a look at your Pied Crow. It is quite stunning. It looks very powerful.
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They are about the size of large crows. From what I’ve witnessed, they are generally solitary, but on occasion I have seen three or four, usually riding thermals.
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If not for the straight beak, they look to me like they could be mistaken for buzzards when flying the thermals.
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Maybe. It depends on the height. I am familiar with their distinct markings so I guess I know what to look for. You might find these photos interesting.
https://attaleuntold.wordpress.com/2018/08/10/watch-the-birdy-pied-crow-harries-an-african-harrier-hawk/
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Thank you. That makes it clearer to see the differences. They look very similar in size.
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Beautiful images Tracy and I love ravens- we see them frequently in the forests of the north and in the Central Highlands 🙂💖 xxx
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Thank you, Xenia. I’m surprised how popular the ravens are. It seems people have been keeping their love a secret. 🙂 Btw, I thought you had left for your holiday so I didn’t leave a comment on your most recent posts. Have a lovely time. I hope the weather is kind to you.
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You’re very welcome Tracy. Ravens are very popular here and I’ve written a few poems for them over the years. Thank you for the good wishes – I’ll be off-line for most of the week and will swing by to read when I can 🙂💜 xxx
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My favourite is the Currawong. Same family I believe.
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Yes, same family. I love the Currawong too. They do get a bad rap though for raiding the nests of smaller birds for protein. However, that is only when they are raising chicks themselves. They are quite vocal at the moment. It is lovely to hear.
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For the Inuit in Arctic Canada the raven is the creator of the world according their old mythology. A real intelligent a d flexible species anyways. Cheers.
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Thank you for the information. I went and read a few stories. They differ slightly but they all have in common that the crow is the bringer of light to the north. Wonderful. The raven/crow is also sacred to the First Nation people of Australia.
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In my new post about the Inuit their raven mythology is explained shortly together with an artwork named “Raven’s Earth”, a stonecut hanging also in my apppartment at Berlin. Nice weekend @ Ulli
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Thank you so much for drawing my attention to your post, Ulli. I have left you a comment. Kind regards. Tracy.
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Had to save your comment from spam. So thanks a lot for the hint 🙂
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Love, love, love the Raven! It is my favourite bird. They are so smart!! We are traveling through northern BC and I am so enjoying them. When we lived in the north we would put out the fish heads for them. They used to have fun teasing my dog, getting him to run from one end of the garden to the other. Friends came out of a store to see a raven flying off with one of their grocery bags from the back of the truck!! All kinds of raven stories. I was thinking about writing about them for VJs weekly challenge this week on language!
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That is so funny, Heather. What cheeky birds they are. I look forward to reading your response to VJs weekly challenge and sharing the love. Sounds like your holiday is going well.
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It is going well. After driving 2000 km we are now in Prince Rupert and tomorrow we’ll be on the ferry to Haida Gwaii. We’re staying in off the grid cabins there, so I’m not sure I’ll get much of chance to post, but you never know!
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I love these guys. I love to watch them play. I loved hiking where they got to “know” me and I got to stay close to their games and be the audience they longed for.
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They would know you, Martha. They have such great long term memories. What a treat to see their games. Such performers. Almost as if saying, “Look at us. Aren’t we smart?” So much fun. 🙂
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One time I swear the ravens at Mission Trails were trying to cheer me up.
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Ah, you must read Denny’s raven poem. He provided a link in the comments. I have not been cheery, Martha. The birds and other creatures I come across are a real salve. But I still worry for them.
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I know. I worry for them, too, and as much as I want to be “out there” have also the feeling that they have had a hard winter and plenty of other people are fucking with their world. It’s a conundrum…
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Yep.
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I do love ravens & crows, Tracy! Last year I wrote a poem, “The Crow”, that I’m really proud of. I think I posted it before we started following each other. If you’re interested in reading it, you can find it here:
https://theceaselessreaderwrites.wordpress.com/2018/03/07/rewarding-with-a-reblog/
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I am interested, Denny and I have read it now. Thank you. Brilliant. I have been so heartened by everyone’s responses to the photos. It makes me feel part of a larger bird/crow loving family.
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Yep, I like them too!
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Of course. 😍
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I think Ravens are so Cool. I wanted a pet raven when I was little.
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Perhaps it is lucky you never had a pet raven, Kristian. You might have got up to too much mischief. 🙂
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🙂 True
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I don’t really like them, Tracy, tho I seem to be on my own in this opinion, and I know they’re extremely intelligent, which I respect. I remember them on the roads on our way to Broken Hill, doing what I know ravens do, but they gave me the creeps. I don’t care for Currawongs either as they scare so many other birds away from my garden.
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Never mind, Jane. It is not obligatory. I have the same reaction to starlings.
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There’s so much lore about these birds, and if you observe them, it’s no wonder. They are smart and clever. Also, raucous and messy, and they keep other birds away, not the best neighbors. However, a few weeks every spring, the beautiful peregrine falcons roost in our trees and the ravens depart for other locales.
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A smart move on the part of your ravens, Sharon. 🙂
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Ah the raven, not quite blessed with a choral voice, but clever, strategic and wily. If I was out with the 22 they’d fly a wide berth, but if I pointed a broom stick they knew!!
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🙂 Haha.
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🙂
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Of course I am! They’re so clever, funny and beautiful! Yours especially with those bright blue eyes! I love watching them opening walnuts in autumn and winter – they fly high up in the air and then let them drop on the tarmac.
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I knew that. 🙂
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