WILD RAVENS

Common raven

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First, ravens are bigger, their wingspan is almost four-feet across, as big as some of the hawks we have in New Hampshire. And while crow tail feathers are squared off, ravens are diamond-shaped.

Aurally, their calls are also pretty different. One YouTube clip captured a raven making all sorts of noises, from a dog bark to a car alarm.

10 Fascinating Facts About Ravens

Ravens preferred sheer cliff faces for their nests, a great place to stay out of the way of predators. Nests have been spotted on a water tower on the old Pease Air Force base and at the Costco in Nashua. And these nests are a sight to see. Ravens line the nests with fur removed from the carcasses they feed on, which also helps to incubate the eggs inside.

It was an Olympian-level display of agility — swoops, rolls, dives — they even locked talons for a brief second and spun themselves around mid-air. It looked like joy — the ravens were no doubt having so much fun. This joy is a stark contrast to the gothic, even macabre association we have of this bird. A study in Wyoming discovered that during hunting season, the sound of a gunshot draws ravens in to investigate a presumed carcass.

From there its easy to see how they might have been viewed as harbingers of death, however unfairly. Their intelligence also makes them capable predators. As mentioned above, ravens have a pretty big beak, but some animal hides are too tough even for them to break open. Ravens have been observed to mimic a wolf howl to attract a wolf or two to the carcass to gain access to the protein locked within. View the discussion thread.

Additionally, this largest of songbirds is also known for is aerobic alacrity - flying upside down, doing barrel, etc - and playful proclivities. Stories of their intelligence abound, including one that involves Cheetos. Jeremy Torrance web producer Here's a guest blog post from wildlife film-maker Richard Taylor-Jones, who made tonight's Springwatch film on ravens. Once reduced to around a thousand pairs due to persecution, they have spread right back across Britain. There are now over 12, breeding pairs. I've been fascinated by these birds ever since I worked with them at the Tower of London and subsequently met my wife because of them she was the Tower press officer at the time.

So, I'm delighted by the species' recovery after centuries of persecution that saw them banished to our countries most remote and wild locations. I've made a short film for tonight's Springwatch about one very special pair that have nested on the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent, the first birds to breed in the county for over years.

Their arrival is symbolic of the fact that, as a species, they've pretty much done it. Until recently they were imprisoned in the mountains of the Wales and Scotland. The White Cliffs are about as far south and east as they can reach from these north western hideouts. There were some initial suggestions that this special pair arrived from over the English Channel from France just 22 miles away.

But they don't have ravens in that part of France, so it can't be a French invasion, these must be British birds. So, if British ravens have turned up in Kent, where else have they set up home in the last few years? Are this lone pair really a symbol that the species has done it, got right back across Britain? Or are they ahead of their time and is the rest of Britain still playing catch up? I would love to hear from anyone that has added breeding ravens to their local list in the last five years, especially in urban locations.

They are still considered by so many people to be a bird of the wilderness but historically they were just as common in towns and cities as they the countryside. Is this true again? Are ravens a problem? Questions are now being asked about large numbers of ravens becoming a problem. There are reports of gangs of juvenile ravens numbering in their hundreds swooping across moorland and decimating wader nests, taking eggs and chicks alike.

Just as with the return of so many top of the food chain predators, like otters and pine martens, is the return of the raven going to cause its own dilemmas for the conservation world? Ravens are astonishing birds, with over 50 different vocalisations, intelligence that rivals primates and a role in our history and folklore that few other species can match. It's great to make a film about them and be given the opportunity to ask you what you think about this magnificent species recovery. How to identify a raven There are eight distinctive members of the corvid family in Britain: Of these birds, five are black and it can be confusing telling them apart, especially from a distance.

Distinguishing carrion crow and raven is where it starts to get a little harder. I find the easiest method to separate the two is to listen to their call. The raven has a very distinctive "cronking" call have a listen here that couldn't be mistaken for any other bird. If the birds aren't calling then look for the very wedge-shaped tail in flight of the raven, crows don't have it. Finally, there is size. Ravens are much, much bigger birds than crows and if you can see the two together you'll notice it immediately.

Ravens actually have a bigger wingspan than a buzzard Close-up, the raven's most distinctive feature is its bill. Needed it to pull apart raw flesh, it's a vital tool for a bird which scavenges on dead animals. If you're still stuck the RSPB have a really good online bird indentiyfing tool. Sign in or register to comment. Yes I regularly see Ravens on the edge of Blackburn.

Often it is just a single bird flying high making the distinctive Prukk call. Complain about this comment Comment number 1. Complain about this comment Comment number 2. Complain about this comment Comment number 3. What kind of spiders?????? Complain about this comment Comment number 4. Complain about this comment Comment number 5. I had a pair breeding near me and they had five young. There is a photo of them in this blog post http: Complain about this comment Comment number 6.

We have had a raven in our back garden in Chichester near the south coast. It was sat on a table and quite happy to stay there while we took photos from only 6ft away. The next day, we noticed it sat on our dining room windowsill, again very still and there for a while. Later that day it was back on the table and then on the back of a chair for longer than the 10 minutes we were stood watching! Complain about this comment Comment number 7. Complain about this comment Comment number 8.

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A pair of Ravens have been nesting regularly in a city centre park here in Plymouth for the past 4 or 5 years. This year they have raised 4 young, they are fairly well adapted to humans and so far have avoided all the dogs in the park. I and others have been feeding them, their prefered food is the sausages I feed the dogs with but they do also seem to enjoy dog biscuits broken up and the usual bread.

They are also partial to the occasional pasta and meat dishes cooked specially for them by a friend. They are continually mobbed by the many crows and magpies in the park and have been seen to kill a pidgeon and devour it. The park also has nesting buzzards, and occasionally nesting sparrow hawks they all seem to live in reasonable harmony and I have never seen any territorial disputes between them. Unfortunately the local council is developing areas of the park which is putting pressure on the wildlife and already we have seen nest sites for goldcrests destroyed. Complain about this comment Comment number 9.

I live on the Isle of Thanet. There are some ancient alder copses they like to get in along the way, roughly following the railway, half mile either side across farmland. Complain about this comment Comment number I was interested on the item about Ravens. I think there was one or two in the trees across from my house the other day. I took a couple of photos and I am sure they were. I am not unused to seeing Crows and Rooks we have a lot around here, but these were just so big it caught my attention the range of the picture was at about yds. I would like to forward the photos for a second opinion if that is possible, can you let me have an email address to send them to.

The noise was also unusual for a crow but seems nearly right for a Raven.

The Language Of Ravens on Wild About Utah | UPR Utah Public Radio

Also the shape of the head and whitey beak seem to fit them being Ravens. I am in North Walsham in Norfolk by the way. I was hoping to send them to springwatch but could not find an email address then they had your film so I hope you will be interested. Why does nobody ask - where have the Turtle Doves Gone?

Were th Ring Doves protected at the expense of our Turtle Doves? We see Ravens here in the far west of Cornwall, they regularly fly over Sennen with their distinctive croaking call.

I have heard a raven in the wood near where I live and this was confirmed by an elderly man who lives locally. It has a deep "caw" sound which is quite distinctive. I also saw one through binoculars, high up on the cliffs whilst walking with a friend. My friend and I have seen a lot of goldfinches this year, along the hedgerows and also gathering dandelion seeds on the grass opposite my house in Dorset.

I received a photograph the other day from one of our members of Dorset Wildlife Trust who has ravens in her "inland" garden in Verwood, Dorset. In fact she said one was sitting on her window sill the other day! We have Ravens here in south east Cornwall , on the show he said that Kent was the furthest south they were , are they not common here? My mother has been feeding a raven where she lives in Bradford, for the past 4 years, he has become quite tame with her, recently bringing along his new mate to introduce to my mother!

I have seen Ravens in Hampshire in the New Forest, which is lovely, and fully expect them to be breeding there too. We have had a pair of Raven nesting at the top of Wigan Town Hall chimney this season, a very rare sight for these parts so I am told, earlier on in the season they were giving some spectacular courtship flying, twisting and tumbling displays, I for one was well pleased to see them here and hope they become resident.

I really enjoyed the film last night, it is so good to see Ravens reaching every part of the British Isles, and Corvids generally getting some much needed positive press. Corvids are without doubt my favourite birds. They are beautiful, intelligent and I love their voices in particular. I am intrigued by how they communicate and only wish I could understand them clearer.

Have you been seeing ravens where you live?

Fanciful it may be, but somehow they really ignite my interest and imagination and leave me wanting to know more. To answer the question, I know of 2 nest sites on the south side of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall though I'm sure there are others , and there is a pair that regularly call from a scots pine by my parent's garden in south east Cornwall, though I don't know where they are breeding.

Closer to home, I also know of at least 2 sites on the Mendips in Somerset, and possibly a third where I have seen a pair close to suitable habitat but not actually seen a nest. Hello really enjoyed the piece on ravens-there are some in Bath in a residential area- does anyone what the avian alphabet for Ravens is -A murder of crows -thanks. Ravens have made a come back here in the valleys of South Wales. I moved here 7 years ago. There were none that I saw. Now there is at least 14 breeding pairs that I know of in the mountain forests.

A pair of ravens has been nesting in the woods at the rear of our property for at least the last 3 years. Always a thrill to see these magnificent birds. Good place to watch peregrins too.

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