Ravens

[Mare Miller]

Maybe, most of you don't give a fig about ravens but I want to share a story with you. Since the beginning of giving Amigo his free flight they have never been aggressive or territorial with him. Probably because of his voice, size, color, actions...they don't know what to make of him! There are 6 to 8, that I'm familiar with, around our property, two pairs and then some. The pairs are starting to build nests in the area and when I hear Amigo making a fuss outside, it usually means a hawk is somewhere close by, (or someone is driving into the yard, he's also a watch dog). The ravens will move the hawk away, so cool to watch. Woodpeckers are another story, Amigo will be the one to chase them off!

 

[BillsBirds]

I had a friend who had a pet raven named O'Toole. He was such a cool bird! He was fully flighted, and trained to stay with my friend. He was a friendly bird, talked some, and liked to bathe. He ate all kinds of foods. Also, he was a pretty big bird. And was very attracted to shiny things. Anytime something like keys, or coins, were missing, they'd be in O'Tooles cage. He also liked to sit at the piano, and tap the keys and listen to the sounds.

 

[Mare Miller]

Yeah, they are magnificent birds! They are as big as Amigo, about the size of a smallish chicken, and very intelligent. I read the book, "Mind of the Raven", by Bernd Heinrich, fascinating. He studied wild ravens in their natural habitat and sometimes under aviary conditions. My husband is reading the book now and is finding similarities of character with our Amigo, as far as bird-dom goes. I think Amigo is special, as far as bird-dom goes!!

 

[henpecked]

My sister raised a clutch of 4 Ravens , free flighted , they stay around her home . One of the funniest things was they would follow her to town (about 10-12 miles). When she would come out of the store they would be on the bed of the truck waiting for her.Then they followed her back to the house. I never had Ravens but had several crows, one who was also free flighted ,Sammy, lived most of the time on a large fishing boat i was running. Sammy spent many days at sea with us and was the clown of the boat, he also would hide bright and shiny trinkets. If something took missing you could usually find it in his "secret" hiding spot.Another favorite was my kids when younger would spread newspaper over nite in the yard and in the morning the kids and Sammy would hunt crickets from under the newspaper in the yard.I'm sure many of the neighbors were woken by kids screaming with glee if a cricket was found,it was a big rush to see who would get the cricket, Sammy or the kids.I found crows and ravens to be as intelligent as any large parrot.

 

[Mare Miller]

Awesome story, henpecked! While and after reading the book, I paid closer attention to these birds. I love pulling into my Von's market in town and observing them, there are a lot of them around there for some reason. Sometimes I'll just stand against my car and observe. I believe they have their own little community in that area.

I know that ravens and crows are closely related, are crows smaller than ravens?

 

[IcyWolf]

I have always loved crows and ravens, but I've always wanted a crow! Probably not the best idea for someone with facial piercings though, given their knack toward trying to steal shiny things.... :52:

 

[MikeyTN]

They're super intelligent birds! I watch scientist test them on animal planet and they would use tools to fetch treats that was hidden inside jars or whatever. My partner wanted one or a mynah bird but we agreed on Malachai the crazy Black Lory we have...lol...One of the funniest bird I've ever owned. He hops around on the floor like a bunny rabbit chasing after us. He rolls over on his back and pick up toys with his feet and roll them on his belly. So we're happy with our black bird...

 

[mnkeastman]

I have always found them beautiful and mysterious. I think I would love to watch the pairs interact if I had them in my yard like you do.

I have always been interested in a variety of birds, animals and such. Very much an animal planet or national geographic type of person.

 

[roxynoodle]

I often tape shows about crow and raven intelligence and am fascinated with them. We have a lot of crows in this area, but not ravens.

Oh, raccoons steal shiny things as well! They are constantly stealing the little clips that hold implements to my tractor, and my hoof picks! Years ago I had one that was stealing every one of my horse grooming items and carting them up into the hay loft. Every day when I got home from work I had to climb up there and get them all back. He/she took all my brushes, the curry combs and even bottles of shampoo. No matter what kind of box I put them in, it would figure out how to get in and take them.

Right now I have one that is stealing grain. And no matter how tightly I tie the lids shut, it works the knots and gets it anyway.

 

[HalfInsane]

I've always loved both crows and ravens, ravens especially. Such intelligent birds.

My father and his siblings found a young raven that had fallen from his nest in a storm and broken his wing. They made a splint and cared for him till he fledged. They let him live in the wild completely independently, however he'd faithfully be at their house waiting for them in the morning. He'd usually remain near where they were all day, sometimes landing on their shoulders or hitching a ride on their bike handle bars.

 

[andrea.faerie]

Crows are smaller than ravens. My dad had a crow many many years ago. His name was Billy He talked A LOT from what I've heard. My mom was not his biggest fan... you see, at the time my dad was in the Navy so... Billy picked up on the sailor language and made his requests for food and toys more... colorful to say the least haha... He also pecked my mom's feet... In Billy defense, she wasn't very nice to him, and in my Mom's defense... He looked pretty scary sometimes. My dad would give Billy locks to play with and he would put a bunch of padlocks on a chain and billy would go around the house and find they keys that opened the locks He also had to figure out how to get his food out of incredibly complex foraging mechanisms that my dad made for him. I don't say foraging toys because these things were anything but toys haha. I wish I got a chance to meet Billy I've wanted a crow or raven for a long time because of all the stories I'd been told, but I also know that they're a LOT of work

 

[mcw009]

Awesome story, henpecked! While and after reading the book, I paid closer attention to these birds. I love pulling into my Von's market in town and observing them, there are a lot of them around there for some reason. Sometimes I'll just stand against my car and observe. I believe they have their own little community in that area.

I know that ravens and crows are closely related, are crows smaller than ravens?

Generally yes, though there are multiple species that vary in size. The most common north american raven is considerably bigger than the most common american crow.

I went to a lecture a couple months ago about how crows can recognize human faces and communicate information about it to the rest of the crow community. The speaker also went into a lot of historical and cultural lore about these birds. There's actually a lot of cultures that view the raven as a creator.

 

[BillsBirds]

I saw that show! It was fascinating. Both Ravens & Crows are interesting creatures. Of course, they are...they're Birds!