Amazing Facts About Ravens
From time immemorial, ravens have been associated with death and bad omens. Moreover, Egar Allan Poe immortalized ravens in the genre of horror when he chose a raven, and not any other bird, to croak “Nevermore” in his famous poem “The Raven.” But beyond the facade of being labeled as harbingers of death and bad luck, these beautiful birds are actually very smart, adaptable, and truly amazing creatures.
Ravens and crows are not the same species. They differ from crows in appearance by their larger bill, wedge-shaped tail, and display of more soaring during flight.
Ravens can mimic animal calls and human voices. In some cases, they have been observed calling wolves to the site of dead animals to open the carcass and make the scraps more accessible for them.
Ravens display high learning ability. In an experiment, a raven had to reach a piece of meat dangling from strings bound to perches by following a fixed series of actions. Ravens succeeded after just six trials, while crows failed even after 30 trials.
There exist rare white ravens that are found near the Qualicum Beach in Canada. Only a few are born each year, and in 2010, only one was born as per records. Their white color is because of a rare genetic disorder called leucism.
A group of ravens is called a conspiracy, an unkindness, or a constable of ravens.
Ravens can spot a cheater. They work together to gain equal amounts of food. But if they see another raven taking more than its fair share, they immediately lose trust and never cooperate in future with the cheater.
Ravens use “hand” gestures. They point at or hold up objects to get each other’s attention. Other than primates, ravens are the only wild animals communicating in this way.
Ravens mate for life and live in pairs in their own territory. When their children reach adolescence, they go away from home to join juvenile gangs where they co-operatively search and share food.
Ravens possess the ability to think ahead and plan for the future, as documented by a research by Lund University. This ability was previously documented only in humans and great apes.
A raven named Jimmy has starred in over 1,000 films between the ’30s and ’50s. It took him just one week to learn a new word and two weeks if it had two syllables. He understood hundreds of words. His footprints were enshrined in cement at a large, Los Angeles pet store.
SOURCE: unbelievable-facts.com
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