A Glimpse into the World of Ravens
Intelligent, Opportunistic, and Strong

Ravens and music: "If they put enough bass in their music, it will draw in corvids for sure. There is nothing that arouses the curiosity of a raven any more than a boom box." "There is a very good reason that they [ravens] are black and absorb light. Many of their natural predators are nocturnal and see in the infrared spectrum depending on light reflected back from their perspective prey."
When you see a raven dropping a piece of meat on the road bed in the spring time and guarding it until roosting time, check out the shoulders and see if it is a coyote crossing. Many a coyote has been ironed out on the asphalt because they stalled out in traffic to try to pick up a tasty tidbit glued to the road bed. Coyotes are creatures of habit. They will use the same road crossings daily while making the rounds. Ravens are a roadside attraction for sure.
"Ravens can be found in many stories that are older than written history. In the past they have been salvation to explorers by leading them to land. To many cultures, ravens were messengers of their god, gods and even viewed as gods."
"The ravens came in to feed this morning and did so faster than normal and then the majority of them headed out into the sagebrush to cache and chow down. They did so in record time like a well trained team. A few minutes after they left a road grader showed up, grading our road. The sound of the blade cutting into the hard ground and hitting large rocks put them on alert before the grader was even within 1 mile of the feeding area. They could sense the raw power being transferred to the ground by the heavy piece of equipment and had no illusions as to what a creature that powerful could do as a predator. They are amazing."
"You can not imprint a raven completely. Regardless of how you get them. A friend of mine raised some from the egg and even so, they took mates and moved back out into the wild."
"Have you ever seen a raven try to comfort a small child in tears? They do it with children that they consider family members. Few people have witnessed this behavior. I have seen it more than once while raising our girls. That is a complex emotion if ever there was. How is it that a bird can recognize the emotional needs of a human and react accordingly? The raven's smaller cousin, the crow, is fairly intelligent as we gauge intelligence. However when compared to the Corvus Corax, even crows must take a seat far in the back."
"On many occasions, probably 4 or 5 times a year, I get to watch my ravens hunt with the local details. It's one of the most ingenious things I have ever seen.
"The ravens do not always set up the strategies the same way. However, during each hunt they locate the redtail's victim and distract the intended animal of prey by air and by ground.
"The last hunt I witnessed was in late March or early April of this year. I heard the ravens outside of my house and went out to see what they were up to, Upon going outside I saw four adult pairs from two adjoining nesting territories. They were circling at what appeared to be approximately 400 feet for one pair and 500-600 feet for the other pair. At first I thought they were just enjoying the day's updrafts and visiting.
"I watched them for almost 40 seconds, and then I heard a lone raven at ground level below the circling birds. I went back in the house and grabbed my spotting scope and returned to the yard. With the scope I spotted a raven on the ground below the circling pairs. The bird on the ground was standing 8 to 10 feet away from a mature, breeding age cottontail rabbit. Then I heard another raven croaking in the distance.
"I followed my ear with my eye and spotted a redtail heading towards the ravens that were distracting the rabbit. The redtail was about ¾ of a mile out when I spotted him and probably at an altitude of 900 to 1200 feet . The redtail had already set its wings and locked on to its target area.
"There was a lone raven flying closely ahead of the redtail and no more than 100 feet below it. The ravens had found one dumb bunny and held it in one location for many minutes while a single raven flew out over the sagebrush, locating and irritating a redtail until the redtail's utmost thought was to nail the raven. The raven then led the hawk on a straight descending line to the rabbit and raven on the ground.
"The hawk and the raven coming in together were about 200 to 275 yards away from the rabbit when the raven leading the hawk broke away from the redtail. All the ravens went silent except for the one next to the rabbit on the ground. The Raven on the ground jumped into the air at almost the same time that the redtail rolled over and went into a dive.
"The raven on the ground squawked, jumped, and flew directly over the rabbit at a height of about 6 to 8 feet. As the raven flew over the rabbit, it obscured the hawk from the rabbit's view. When the raven was out of the way, the rabbit saw the hawk. However it was too late to flee and it froze.
"After the redtail had made the kill, the ravens all landed and ran off the hawk and had a little 'hare of the dog'. They also fed on immature rabbits that left the burrow later that evening at the same location.
"The next time that you see what looks like a redtail trying to capture a raven in flight, look again and listen for the sounds of other ravens nearby. If you are lucky enough to have a spotting scope you may witness one of the most fascinating and intriguing spectacles involving the intelligence of the ravens. They utilize illusion for profit. Truly amazing. Truly magical."

- JR Inghram, The Birding Forum.

Raven and the Man That Sits on the Tides