common raven

The common raven was one of the many species originally described, with its type locality given as Europe, by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae, and it still bears its original name of Corvus corax.{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. | publisher=Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii). | year=1758| page=105 | quote = C. ater, dorso caerulescente, cauda subrotundata.|language=la}} It is the type species of the genus Corvus, derived from the Latin word for 'raven'.{{cite book | last = Simpson | first = D. P. | title = Cassell's Latin Dictionary | publisher = Cassell Ltd. | year = 1979 | edition = 5th | location = London | page = 155 | isbn = 978-0-304-52257-6}} The specific epithet corax is the Latinized form of the Greek word {{lang|el|κόραξ}}, meaning 'raven' or 'crow'.{{LSJ|ko/rac|κόραξ|ref}}.

The modern English word raven has cognates in many other Germanic languages, including Old Norse (and subsequently modern Icelandic) {{lang|non|hrafn}}{{Cite OED| Raven}} and Old High German {{lang|goh|(h)raban}}, all which descend from Proto-Germanic {{lang|gem|*khrabanas}}.{{cite web| title=Raven| work=Online Etymology Dictionary| url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=raven| access-date=2007-05-14}} An old Scottish word {{lang|sco|corby}} or {{lang|sco|corbie}}, akin to the French {{lang|fr|corbeau}}, has been used for both this bird and the carrion crow.Goodwin, p. 144 Collective nouns for a group of ravens (or at least the common raven) include "unkindness"{{cite web|url=http://baltimorebirdclub.org/gnlist.html | title=Baltimore Bird Club. Group Name for Birds: A Partial List | access-date=2007-06-03}} and "conspiracy".{{cite web |url=http://www.ucgc.org/terms-for-collections.htm |title=University of California Golf Club. List of Collective Nouns |access-date=2008-07-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100213074513/http://www.ucgc.org/terms-for-collections.htm |archive-date=2010-02-13 |url-status=dead }}

The closest relatives of the common raven are the brown-necked raven (C. ruficollis), the pied crow (C. albus) of Africa, and the Chihuahuan raven (C. cryptoleucus) of the North American Southwest.Goodwin, pp. 70–72 Most authorities, including the IOC World Bird List and the Handbook of the Birds of the World, currently accept 11 subspecies,{{cite web | title=IOC World Bird List – Jayshrike, shrikes, crows, mudnesters, melampittas, Ifrit, birds-of-paradise | website=IOC World Bird List – Version 14.2 | date=2024-08-17 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/crows/ | access-date=2024-11-27}}Marzluff, J. M. (2009). "Common Raven (Corvus corax)". pp. 638–639 in Handbook of the Birds of the World. Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. and Christie, D. A. (eds.). Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. {{ISBN|978-84-96553-50-7}} though some only accept eight;Clements, J. F. (2007). The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World. 6th edition. Christopher Helm. {{ISBN|978-0-7136-8695-1}} of the six subspecies accepted by IOC and HBW in the Western Palearctic region, only four are accepted by Shirihai.{{cite book | last1=Shirihai | first1=Hadoram | last2=Svensson | first2=Lars | title=Handbook of Western Palearctic birds. volume 2: Passerines: flycatchers to buntings | publisher=Helm | publication-place=London Oxford New York New Delhi Sydney | date=2019 | isbn=978-1-4729-3737-7 | pages=268–271}}

The common raven evolved in the Old World and crossed the Bering land bridge into North America.Marzluff and Angell, p. 86 Recent genetic studies, which examined the DNA of common ravens from across the world, have determined that the birds fall into at least two clades: a California clade (subspecies C. c. clarionensis), found only in the southwestern United States, and a Holarctic clade, found across the rest of the Northern Hemisphere. Birds from both clades look alike, but the groups are genetically distinct and began to diverge about two million years ago.{{cite journal |author= Omland KE|author2= Tarr CL|author3= Boarman WI|author4= Marzluff JM|author5= Fleischer RC |year=2000 |title=Cryptic genetic variation and paraphyly in ravens |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |volume=267 |issue= 1461|pages=2475–2482|doi=10.1098/rspb.2000.1308 |pmid= 11197122 |pmc= 1690844}}

The findings indicate that based on mitochondrial DNA, common ravens from the rest of North America are more closely related to those in Europe and Asia, than to those in the California clade, and that common ravens in the California clade are more closely related to the Chihuahuan raven (C. cryptoleucus) than to those in the Holarctic clade.{{cite web|url=http://www.werc.usgs.gov/news/2000-12-19.html|title=California Ravens Are a Breed Apart|access-date=2007-05-11|author=US Geological Survey|archive-date=2017-07-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708043602/https://www.werc.usgs.gov/news/2000-12-19.html|url-status=dead}} Ravens in the Holarctic clade are more closely related to the pied crow (C. albus) than they are to the California clade.{{cite journal| last=Feldman| first=Christopher R.|author2=Omland, Kevin E. |date=March 2005| title=Phylogenetics of the common raven complex (Corvus: Corvidae) and the utility of ND4, COI and intron 7 of the β-fibrinogen gene in avian molecular systematics| journal=Zoologica Scripta|volume=34| issue=2| pages=145–156|doi=10.1111/j.1463-6409.2005.00182.x| s2cid=85196387}} Thus, the common raven species as traditionally delimited is considered to be paraphyletic.

One explanation for these genetic findings is that common ravens settled in California at least two million years ago and became separated from their relatives in Europe and Asia during a glacial period. One million years ago, a group from the California clade evolved into a new species, the Chihuahuan raven. Other members of the Holarctic clade arrived later in a separate migration from Asia, perhaps at the same time as humans and wolves about 15,000 years ago.Marzluff and Angell, pp. 86–87

A 2011 study suggested that there are no restrictions on gene flow between the Californian and Holarctic common raven groups, and that the lineages can remerge, effectively reversing a potential speciation.{{cite journal | last1 = Webb | first1 = William C. | last2 = Marzluff | first2 = John M. | last3 = Omland | first3 = Kevin E. | title = Random interbreeding between cryptic lineages of the Common Raven: evidence for speciation in reverse | journal = Molecular Ecology| volume = 20 | issue = 11| pages =2390–2402 | year = 2011 | doi = 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2011.05095.x | pmid = 21518060| bibcode = 2011MolEc..20.2390W | s2cid = 7684306 }}

A recent study of raven mitochondrial DNA showed that the isolated population from the Canary Islands is distinct from other populations.{{cite journal| last=Baker| first=Jason M.|author2=Omland, Kevin E. |date=January 2006| title=Canary Island Ravens Corvus corax tingitanus have distinct mtDNA| journal=Ibis|volume=148| issue=1| pages=174–178| doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.2006.00493.x}} The study did not include any individuals from the North African population, and its position is therefore unclear, though its morphology is very close to the population of the Canaries (to the extent that the two are often considered part of a single subspecies).

{{For|physiology|Common raven physiology}}

File:Raven Cypress Provincial Park 2.JPG can display a blue or purple sheen which is a result of iridescence.]]

A mature common raven ranges between {{convert|54|and|71|cm|in|abbr=on}} and has a wingspan of {{convert|116|to|153|cm|in|abbr=on}}.{{cite book |last1=Svensson |first1=Lars |last2=Mullarney |first2=Killian |last3=Zetterström |first3=Dan |date=2015 |title=Le guide ornitho: le guide le plus complet des oiseaux d'Europe, d'Afrique du Nord et du Moyen-Orient |trans-title=The birding guide: The most comprehensive guide of birds from Europe, North Africa and the Middle East |location=French |publisher=Éditions Delachaux et Niestlé }}{{Cite web|title=Common Raven|url=http://nature.ca/notebooks/english/raven.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623101737/http://nature.ca/notebooks/english/raven.htm |archive-date=2017-06-23 |website=Canadian Museum of Nature |url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|title=Raven|url=https://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/raven.html|access-date=2012-12-19|website=British Garden Birds}} Recorded weights range from {{convert|0.69|to|2.250|kg|lbs|abbr=on}},{{cite journal|last1=Boarman| first1=William I.|last2=Heinrich|first2=Bernd| year=1999| title=Common Raven (Corvus corax)| journal=Birds of North America| volume=476| pages=1–32|doi=10.2173/bna.476|editor1-last=Poole|editor1-first=A.|editor2-last=Gill|editor2-first=F.}}{{Cite web|title=Common Raven|url=https://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-common-raven.html|access-date=2012-12-19|website=www.oiseaux-birds.com}} thus making the common raven one of the heaviest passerines. Birds from colder regions such as the Himalayas and Greenland are generally larger with slightly larger bills, while those from warmer regions are smaller with proportionally smaller bills.Goodwin, pp. 138–139 Representative of the size variation in the species, ravens from California weighed an average of {{convert|0.784|kg|lb|abbr=on}}, those from Alaska weighed an average of {{convert|1.135|kg|lb|abbr=on}} and those from Nova Scotia weighed an average of {{convert|1.230|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.{{cite journal|author=Elliot, R. D. |year=1977|title=Hanging behavior in Common Ravens|doi=10.2307/4085278|jstor=4085278|journal= Auk |volume=94|issue=4|pages=777–778|url=https://sora.unm.edu/node/23073|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1016/0300-9629(78)90033-6| title = Temperature regulation in the common raven of interior Alaska| journal = Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A| volume = 60| pages = 31–36| year = 1978| last1 = Schwan | first1 = M. W. | last2 = Williams | first2 = D. D. | issue = 1}}Linz, G. M., Knittle, C. E. and Johnson, R. E. (1990). Ecology of corvids in the vicinity of the Aliso Creek California Least Tern colony, Camp Pendelton, California. U.S. Dept. of Agric., North Dakota Field Stn. North Dakota State Univ., Fargo. The bill is large and slightly curved, with a culmen length of {{convert|5.7|to|8.5|cm|in|abbr=on}}, one of the largest bills amongst passerines (only the thick-billed raven and white-necked raven have larger bills). It has a longish, strongly graduated tail, at {{convert|20|to|26.3|cm|in|abbr=on}}, and mostly iridescent black plumage, and a dark brown iris. The throat feathers are elongated and pointed and the bases of the neck feathers are pale brownish-grey. The legs and feet are stout and strong, with a tarsus length of {{convert|6|to|7.2|cm|in|abbr=on}}.{{cite journal|author=Oberholser, Harry C. |title=The Common Ravens of North America |journal=The Ohio Journal of Science |volume=18 |issue=6 |year=1918 |pages=213–225 |hdl=1811/1993 }}Anonymous. (2013) [https://archive.today/20130415015528/http://avis.indianbiodiversity.org/passeriformes-corvidae-crows-jays-ravens-and-magpies/common-raven-corvus-corax.html "Corvus corax – Linnaeus, 1758 (Common Raven)"] in Deomurari, A.N. (Compiler), 2010. AVIS-IBIS (Avian Information System – Indian BioDiversity Information System) v. 1.0. Foundation For Ecological Security, India The juvenile plumage is similar but duller, with a blue-grey iris, and pinkish gape at first.Goodwin, p. 138

File:Crow and Raven, Restricted Access- Camp Edwards, Bourne, MA, USA imported from iNaturalist photo 444490042 (cropped).jpg

Apart from its greater size, the common raven differs from related crows by having a larger and heavier black beak, shaggy feathers around the throat, longer bristles above the beak, and a longer, wedge-shaped tail.Svensson, L., Mullarney, K., & Zetterström, D. (2022) Collins Bird Guide, ed. 3. {{ISBN|978-0-00-854746-2}}, pages 380–381 Flying ravens are distinguished from crows by their tail shape, larger wing area, and more stable soaring style, which generally involves less wing flapping. Despite their bulk, ravens are easily as agile in flight as their smaller cousins. In flight the feathers produce a creaking sound that has been likened to the rustle of silk. The voice of ravens is also quite distinct, its usual call being a deep croak of a much more sonorous quality than a crow's call, though the calls of other ravens like the fan-tailed raven and brown-necked raven can be confused where they occur together with common ravens in parts of southwest Asia and northern Africa;{{cite book | last=Snow | first=David William | title=The Birds of the Western Palaearctic, Concise Edition | publisher=Oxford Univ. Press | publication-place=Oxford | date=1998 | isbn=0-19-854099-X | volume=2 | pages=1483–1486}} of these two, the fan-tailed raven is more similar in calls but has a very different shape with its broad wings and very short tail, while the brown-necked raven can be very hard to distinguish on plumage, but has somewhat more crow-like calls. In North America, the Chihuahuan raven (C. cryptoleucus) is fairly similar to the relatively small common ravens of the American southwest and is best distinguished by the still relatively smaller size of its bill, beard and body and relatively longer tail.Boarman, William I. and Heinrich, Bernd (1999) [http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/476/articles/introduction Common Raven (Corvus corax)], The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The all-black carrion crow (C. corone) and rook (C. frugilegus) in Europe may suggest a raven due to their largish bill but are still distinctly smaller and have the wing and tail shapes typical of crows.

File:Common Raven imported from iNaturalist photo 338614949 on 6 December 2024.jpg is locally well known in Anchorage (Alaska).{{Cite web |last=Anchorage |first=Rhonda McBride, KNBA- |date=2024-01-30 |title=Anchorage's white raven becomes a local legend as a tracked trickster |url=https://alaskapublic.org/2024/01/30/anchorages-white-raven-becomes-a-local-legend-as-a-tracked-trickster/ |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=Alaska Public Media |language=en-US}}]]

In the Faroe Islands, a now-extinct pied colour morph of this species existed, known as the pied raven;{{Cite journal | last = Droste | first = Ferdinand Baron von | title = Vogelfauna der Färöer (Färöernes Fuglefauna af Sysselmaand Müller 1862.) Aus dem Dänischen übersetzt und mit Anmerkungen versehen. Teil 1 |language = de| journal = Journal of Ornithology | volume = 17 | issue = 2 | pages = 107–118 | year = 1869 | doi = 10.1007/BF02261546| bibcode = | s2cid = 43875817 | url = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/142067 }} the ordinary black-coloured common ravens remain widespread in the archipelago.{{cite web| title=Liste over Færøernes fugle | url=https://www.dof.dk/images/udvalg/su/dokumenter/su_rapporter/Faeroliste_udg._16a.pdf | publisher=Dansk Ornitologisk Forening | access-date=31 July 2023 }} White ravens are occasionally found in the wild. Some in British Columbia lacked the pink eyes of an albino, and were instead leucistic, a condition where an animal lacks any of several different types of pigment, not simply melanin.{{cite web| author =Dearing, Stephanie | title=Another rare white raven born this year on Canadian beach | url=http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/294246 |work=Digital Journal |date=5 July 2010| access-date = 7 November 2014}}

File:Two Ravens Talking Mar 10 2012.ogv

Common ravens have a wide range of vocalizations which are of interest to ornithologists. Gwinner carried out important studies in the early 1960s, recording and photographing his findings in great detail.{{cite journal|language= de|doi=10.1111/j.1439-0310.1964.tb01212.x|last=Gwinner| first=E.| year=1964| title=Untersuchungen über das ausdrucks und Sozialverhalten des Kolkraben (Corvus corax L.)| journal=Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie| volume=21| issue=6| pages=657–748}} Fifteen to 30 categories of calls have been recorded for this species, most of which are used for social interaction. Calls recorded include alarm calls, chase calls, and flight calls. The species has a distinctive, deep, resonant prruk-prruk-prruk call, which to experienced listeners is unlike that of any other corvid. Its very wide and complex vocabulary includes a high, knocking toc-toc-toc, a dry, grating kraa, a low guttural rattle and some calls of an almost musical nature.

Like other corvids, the common raven can mimic sounds from their environment, including human speech. Non-vocal sounds produced by the common raven include wing whistles and bill snapping. Clapping or clicking has been observed more often in females than in males. If a member of a pair is lost, its mate reproduces the calls of its lost partner to encourage its return.Goodwin, p. 142

File:Corvus corax jouveniles.jpeg

The common raven can thrive in varied climates; it has the largest range of any member of the genus,Goodwin, p. 70{{cite book| last=Madge |first=Steve| author-link=Steve Madge |title=Crows and jays : a guide to the crows, jays and magpies of the world| year=1999| orig-year=1994| series=Helm Identification Guides |publisher=Christopher Helm| location=London|pages=179–181| isbn=978-0-7136-3999-5}} and one of the largest of any passerine.{{cite web|url=http://audubonportland.org/wcc/edbirds/raven|title=Common Raven|publisher=Audubon Society of Portland |year=2012|access-date=6 November 2012}} They range throughout the Holarctic from Arctic and temperate habitats in North America and Eurasia to the deserts of North Africa, and to islands in the Pacific Ocean. In the British Isles, they are more common in Scotland, Wales, western England and Ireland, having been eradicated from other areas by gamekeeping interests.{{cite book | last=Holloway | first=Simon | title=Historical Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland 1875-1900: 1875-1900 | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing | publication-place=London | date=2010 | isbn=978-0-85661-094-3 | pages=390–391}} In Tibet, they have been recorded at altitudes up to 5,000 m (16,400 ft), and as high as 6,350 m (20,600 ft) on Mount Everest.{{cite journal| author=Hingston, R W G|year=1927 | title=Bird notes from the Mount Everest expedition of 1924|pages=320–329|journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=32| issue=2|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47859591}} The population sometimes known as the 'Punjab raven', part of the subspecies Corvus corax laurencei (sometimes misnamed C. c. subcorax) occurs in the Sindh district of Pakistan and adjoining regions of northwestern India. They are generally resident within their range for the whole year. In his 1950 work, Grønlands Fugle [Birds of Greenland], noted ornithologist Finn Salomonsen indicated that common ravens did not overwinter in the Arctic.{{cite book| last1=Salomonsen| first1=Finn|author-link1=Finn Salomonsen| title=Grønlands Fugle [Birds of Greenland]| year=1950| location=Copenhagen| publisher=Munksgaard}} However, in Arctic Canada and Alaska, they are found year-round.{{cite web|url=http://nationalbird.canadiangeographic.ca/bird.asp?name=Common-raven&id=1022|title=Common raven (Corvus corax)|publisher=The National Bird Project|access-date=December 31, 2016|archive-date=September 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929091750/http://nationalbird.canadiangeographic.ca/bird.asp?name=Common-raven&id=1022/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/arctic27-1-41.pdf|title=Winter Food Habits of Ravens on the Arctic Slope of Alaska|last1=Temple|first1=Stanley|author-link1=Stanley Temple|access-date=December 31, 2016|archive-date=May 24, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524142532/http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic27-1-41.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.arctic.uoguelph.ca/cpl/Traditional/traditional/animals/raven.htm|title=Tulugaq – Raven|publisher=Canada's Arctic|access-date=December 31, 2016|archive-date=September 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929091803/http://www.arctic.uoguelph.ca/cpl/Traditional/traditional/animals/raven.htm/|url-status=dead}} Young birds may disperse locally.Goodwin, p. 139

File:Common Ravens in Palm Desert CA.jpg

In the United Kingdom, the range is currently increasing after improved legal protection, but illegal persecution by gamekeepers remains a problem in many areas.{{cite web | title=Raven | website=Scottish Raptor Study Group | url=https://www.scottishraptorstudygroup.org/raptors/raven/ | access-date=2024-11-28}}{{cite web | title=The Peak District Raptor Report 2016 | url=https://pdrmg.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2016-joint-report.pdf | access-date=2024-11-28}} It favours mountainous or coastal terrain, but can also be found in parks with tall trees suitable for use as habitation. Its population is at its most dense in the north and west of the country, though the species is expanding its population southwards.{{Cite web|title=Raven {{!}} Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust|url=https://www.hiwwt.org.uk/wildlife-explorer/birds/crows-and-shrikes/raven|access-date=2020-10-03|website=www.hiwwt.org.uk}}

Most common ravens prefer wooded areas with large expanses of open land nearby, or coastal regions for their nesting sites and feeding grounds. In some areas of dense human population, such as California in the United States, they take advantage of a plentiful food supply and have seen a surge in their numbers. On coasts, individuals of this species are often evenly distributed and prefer to build their nest sites along sea cliffs.{{Cite journal | last1 = Ewins | first1 = P. J. | last2 = Dymond | first2 = J. N. | last3 = Marquiss | first3 = M. | doi = 10.1080/00063658609476906 | title = The distribution, breeding and diet of Ravens Corvus corax in Shetland | journal = Bird Study | volume = 33 | issue = 2 | pages = 110–116 | year = 1986 | bibcode = 1986BirdS..33..110E }} Common ravens are often located in coastal regions because these areas provide easy access to water and a variety of food sources. Also, coastal regions have stable weather patterns without extreme cold or hot temperatures.

In general, common ravens live in a wide array of environments but prefer heavily contoured landscapes. When the environment changes in vast degrees, these birds will respond with a stress response. The hormone known as corticosterone is activated by the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis.{{Cite journal | last1 = Cockrem | first1 = J. F. | doi = 10.1007/s10336-007-0175-8 | title = Stress, corticosterone responses and avian personalities | journal = Journal of Ornithology | volume = 148 | pages = 169–178 | year = 2007 | issue = S2 | bibcode = | s2cid = 9578614 }} Corticosterone is activated when the bird is exposed to stress, such as migrating great distances.

File:Corvus corax 2405 (8964295344).jpg

Common ravens usually travel in mated pairs, although young birds may form flocks. Relationships between common ravens are often quarrelsome, yet they demonstrate considerable devotion to their families.

Owing to its size, gregariousness and its defensive abilities, the common raven has few natural predators. Predators of its eggs and chicks include martens, large owls, and sometimes eagles. Ravens are quite vigorous at defending their young and are usually successful at driving off perceived threats. They attack potential predators by flying at them and lunging with their large bills. Humans are occasionally attacked if they get close to a raven nest, though serious injuries are unlikely. There are a few records of large birds of prey taking ravens; more rarely, large mammalian predators such as lynxes, coyotes and cougars have also attacked ravens. This principally occurs at a nest site and when other prey for the carnivores are scarce.

In North America, predators of ravens have reportedly included great horned owls, American goshawks, bald eagles, golden eagles and red-tailed hawks. It is possible that the hawk species only attack young ravens; in one instance a peregrine falcon swooped at a newly fledged raven but was chased off by the parent ravens.{{cite thesis|author=Boal, C. W. |year=1993|title=Northern goshawk diets in ponderosa pine forests in northern Arizona|publisher=University of Arizona |type=Masters of Science Thesis}}{{cite journal|author=Murie, O. J. |year=1940|title=Food habits of the northern Bald Eagle in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska|jstor=1363948|url=https://sora.unm.edu/node/99047|journal= Condor|pages= 198–202|volume=42|issue=4|doi=10.2307/1363948|url-access=subscription}}{{cite journal|author=Olendorff, R. R. |year=1976|title=The food habits of North American golden eagles|jstor=2424254|journal= American Midland Naturalist|pages= 231–236|volume=95|issue=1|doi=10.2307/2424254}}{{cite book|author=Young, L. S. |author2=Engel, K. A. |year= 1988|title=Implications of communal roosting by Common Ravens to operation and maintenance of Pacific Power and Light Company's Malin to Midpoint 500 kV transmission line|publisher= U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Land Manage|place= Boise, ID}} Ravens wary around novel carrion sites, and in North America, have been recorded waiting for the presence of American crows and blue jays before approaching to eat.

In Eurasia, their reported predators include, in addition to golden eagles, Eurasian eagle-owls, white-tailed eagles, Steller's sea-eagles, eastern imperial eagles and gyrfalcons.{{cite journal|author=Malafosse, J. |year=1985|title=Quelques données sur le Hibou grand-duc (Bubo bubo) dans le département de la Lozère de 1978 à 1984|journal= Le Grand-Duc|volume= 26|pages= 26–32|url=http://files.biolovision.net/www.faune-auvergne.org/userfiles/GDUC/Grand-Duc%2026%20(04).pdf }}{{cite journal|author1=Wille, F. |author2=Kampp, K. |name-list-style=amp |year=1983|title=Food of the white-tailed eagle Haliaeetus albicilla in Greenland|journal= Ecography |volume=6|issue=1|pages= 81–88 |doi=10.1111/j.1600-0587.1983.tb01068.x|bibcode=1983Ecogr...6...81W }}{{cite book|author1=Utekhina, I. |author2=Potapov, E. |author3=McGrady, M. J. |name-list-style=amp |year=2000|chapter=Diet of the Steller's Sea Eagle in the northern Sea of Okhotsk|title=First Symposium on Steller's and White-tailed Sea Eagles in East Asia|place= Tokyo, Japan|publisher= Wild Bird Society of Japan |pages=71–92}}{{cite journal|author1=Chavko, J. |author2=Danko, Š. |author3=Obuch, J. |author4=Mihók, J. |name-list-style=amp |year=2007|title=The food of the Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca) in Slovakia|journal= Slovak Raptor Journal|volume= 1|issue=1 |pages= 1–18|doi=10.2478/v10262-012-0001-y|s2cid=85142585 |doi-access=free}}{{cite journal|author=Jenkins, M. A. |year=1978|title=Gyrfalcon nesting behavior from hatching to fledging|jstor=4085502|url=https://sora.unm.edu/node/23099|journal= Auk |volume=95|issue=1|pages=122–127|doi=10.2307/4085502|url-access=subscription}} Because they are potentially hazardous prey for raptorial birds, raptors must usually take them by surprise and most attacks are on fledgling ravens.

File:Ravens nest Lastef.jpg

File:Corvus corax tingitanus MHNT 232 HdB Djebel Messaad Algerie.jpg

File:Korp - Common raven - (Corvus corax) - Ystad - 2025.jpg.]]

Juveniles begin to court at a very early age, but may not bond for another two or three years. Aerial acrobatics, demonstrations of intelligence {{Citation needed|reason=Claim is dubious and not listed in the source|date=June 2025}}, and ability to provide food are key behaviours of courting. Once paired, they tend to nest together for life, usually in the same location.{{cite web |url=http://www.oregonzoo.org/Cards/BirdsOfPrey/commonraven.htm|title= Oregon Zoo Animals: Common Raven|access-date=2007-05-19 |work= Oregon Zoo| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070429120446/http://www.oregonzoo.org/Cards/BirdsOfPrey/commonraven.htm| archive-date = April 29, 2007}} Instances of non-monogamy have been observed in common ravens, by males visiting a female's nest when her mate is away.

Breeding pairs must have a territory of their own before they begin nest-building and reproduction, and thus they aggressively defend a territory and its food resources. Nesting territories vary in size according to the density of food resources in the area. The nest is a deep bowl made of large sticks (up to 150 cm long and 2.5 cm thick) and twigs, bound with an inner layer of roots, mud, and bark and lined with a softer material, such as deer fur. The nest is usually placed in a large tree or on a cliff ledge, or less frequently in old buildings or utility poles.Savage, p. 35

Females usually lay between four to six (rarely two to seven) pale bluish-green, brown-blotched eggs. Incubation is about 18 to 21 days, by the female only. The male may stand or crouch over the young, sheltering but not actually brooding them.{{cite journal |last=Gwinner |first=Eberhard |date=April 1965 |title=Beobachtungen über Nestbau und Brutpflege des Kolkraben (Corvus corax L.) in Gefangenschaft |journal=Journal of Ornithology |volume=106 |issue=2 |pages=145–178 |doi=10.1007/BF01793758|bibcode= |s2cid=22796437 |language=de}} The young fledge at 35 to 49 days, and are fed by both parents. They stay with their parents for another six months after fledging.Goodwin, p. 141

In most of their range, egg-laying begins in late January or February, but it can be as late as April in colder climates such as Greenland and Tibet. In Pakistan, egg-laying takes place in December, but in north Africa (subspecies C. c. tingitanus), later than in Europe, in late March or early April. Eggs and hatchlings are preyed on, rarely, by large hawks and eagles, large owls, martens and canids. The adults, which are very rarely preyed upon, are often successful in defending their young from these predators, due to their numbers, large size and cunning.{{cite web |access-date=2008-06-03 |vauthors=Berg R, Dewey T |year=1999 |publisher=University of Michigan |url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Corvus_corax.html |title=Corvus corax|work=Animal Diversity Web}} They have been observed dropping stones on potential predators that venture close to their nests.{{cite journal |journal=Condor |title=The apparent use of rocks by a raven in nest defense |first=Stewart W. |last=Janes |url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v078n03/p0409-p0409.pdf |volume=78 |issue=3 |pages=409 |year=1976 |access-date=2009-03-26 |doi=10.2307/1367704|jstor=1367704}}

Common ravens can be very long-lived, especially in captive or protected conditions; individuals at the Tower of London have lived for more than 40 years. Their lifespans in the wild are shorter, typically 10 to 15 years. The longest known lifespan of a ringed wild common raven was 23 years, 3 months,{{cite web |url=http://www.euring.org/data_and_codes/longevity-voous.htm |title=European Longevity Records |publisher=European Union for Bird Ringing |access-date=5 April 2011}} which among passerines only is surpassed by a few Australian species such as the satin bowerbird.Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme [http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/biodiversity/abbbs/abbbs-search.pl?taxon_id=378 Satin Bowerbird]

File:Common Raven Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald 01.jpg

Common ravens are omnivorous and highly opportunistic: their diet may vary widely with location, season and serendipity.{{cite journal |last=Nogales |first=Manuel |author2=Hernández, Elizabeth C. |year=1997 |title=Diet of Common Ravens on El Hierro, Canary Islands |journal=Journal of Field Ornithology |volume=68 |issue=3 |pages=382–391 |url= http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/jfo/v068n03/p0382-p0391.pdf| access-date=2007-05-16}} For example, those foraging on tundra on the Arctic North Slope of Alaska obtained about half their energy needs from predation, mainly of microtine rodents, and half by scavenging, mainly of caribou and ptarmigan carcasses.{{cite journal |last=Temple |first=Stanley A. |date=March 1974 |title=Winter food habits of Ravens on the Arctic Slope of Alaska |journal=Arctic |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=41–46 |url=http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic27-1-41.pdf |access-date=7 November 2014 |doi=10.14430/arctic2851 |archive-date=24 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524142532/http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic27-1-41.pdf |url-status=dead }}

File:Common Raven, Marin County, CA, USA imported from iNaturalist photo 72128898.jpg

In some places they are mainly scavengers, feeding on carrion as well as the associated maggots and carrion beetles. With large-bodied carrion, which they are not equipped to tear through as well as birds such as the much larger and hook-billed vultures, they must wait for the prey to be torn open by another predator or flayed by other means.{{cite journal |last=Nelson |first= A.L. |date=January 1934 |title=Some early summer food preferences of the American Raven in southeastern Oregon |journal=Condor |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=10–15 |url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v036n01/p0010-p0015.pdf| access-date=2007-05-16 |doi=10.2307/1363515|jstor=1363515 }} They are also known to eat the afterbirth of ewes and other large mammals.{{cite web | url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Corvus_corax/ | title=Corvus corax (Common raven) | website=Animal Diversity Web }} Plant food includes cereal grains, acorns, buds, berries and fruit. They prey on small invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals and birds.{{cite journal| last=Gaston| first=A.J.|author2=Elliot, R.D. | year=1996| title=Predation by Ravens Corvus corax on Brünnich's Guillemot Uria lomvia eggs and chicks and its possible impact on breeding site selection|journal=Ibis |volume=138| pages=742–748| doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.1996.tb08831.x| issue=4| title-link=Thick-billed murre}} Ravens may also consume the undigested portions of animal faeces, and human food waste. They store surplus food items, especially those containing fat, and will learn to hide such food out of the sight of other common ravens. Ravens also raid the food caches of other species, such as the Arctic fox.{{cite journal |last=Careau |first=Vincent |author2=Lecomte, Nicolas|author3=Giroux, Jean-François|author4=Berteaux, Dominique |date=January 2007 |title=Common ravens raid arctic fox food caches |journal=Journal of Ethology |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=79–82 |doi=10.1007/s10164-006-0193-7|s2cid=23425485 }} They often associate with another canine, the wolf, as a kleptoparasite, following to scavenge wolf-kills in winter,{{cite journal |last=Stahler |first=Daniel |author2=Heinrich, Bernd |author3=Smith, Douglas |s2cid=53176223 |date=August 2002 |title=Common ravens, Corvus corax, preferentially associate with grey wolves, Canis lupus, as a foraging strategy in winter |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=283–290 |doi=10.1006/anbe.2002.3047}} but also co-operatively, having been observed to lead hunting wolf packs to potential prey that only the ravens can see from the air.{{Citation needed|reason=Previous citation did not contain information about this claim|date=December 2024}} Ravens are regular predators at bird nests, brazenly picking off eggs, nestlings and sometimes adult birds when they spot an opportunity. They are considered perhaps the primary natural threat to the nesting success of the critically endangered California condor, since they readily take condor eggs and are very common in the areas where the species is being re-introduced. On the other hand, when they defend their own adjacent nests, they may incidentally benefit condors since they chase golden eagles out of the area that may otherwise prey upon larger nestling and fledging condors. Although condors recognise ravens as threats and will chase them away, their usual nest sites are poorly concealed from ravens; the reason is unknown, but it may be due to the condor's lower aerial manoeuvrability, or a holdover from times when condor populations were denser, nest sites more limiting, and ravens less abundant.{{cite journal |journal=The Condor |title=Nest-site Biology of the California Condor |first1=Noel F. R. |last1=Snyder |first2=Rob R. |last2=Ramey |first3=Fred C |last3=Sibley |volume=88 |issue=2 |pages=228–241 |url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v088n02/p0228-p0241.pdf |doi=10.2307/1368920 |year=1986|jstor=1368920 }}

File:Common raves landfill.jpg

Common ravens nesting near sources of human garbage included a higher percentage of food waste in their diet, birds nesting near roads consumed more road-killed vertebrates, and those nesting far from these sources of food ate more arthropods and plant material. Fledging success was higher for those using human garbage as a food source.{{cite journal |last=Kristan |first=William B. |author2=Boarman, William I.|author3=Crayon, John J. |date=March 2004 |title=Diet composition of common ravens across the urban-wildland interface of the West Mojave Desert |url=http://public.csusm.edu/wkristan/kristan_et_al_raven_diet.pdf |journal=Wildlife Society Bulletin |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=244–253 |doi=10.2193/0091-7648(2004)32[244:DCOCRA]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=29170244 }} In contrast, a 1984–1986 study of common raven diet in an agricultural region of southwestern Idaho found that cereal grains were the principal constituent of pellets, though small mammals, grasshoppers, cattle carrion and birds were also eaten.{{cite journal |last=Engel |first=Kathleen A. |author2=Young, Leonard S. |date=May 1989 |title=Spatial and temporal patterns in the diet of Common Ravens in southwestern Idaho |journal=Condor |volume=91 |issue= 2|pages=372–378 |url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v091n02/p0372-p0378.pdf| access-date=2005-05-16 |doi=10.2307/1368316|jstor=1368316 }}

One behaviour is recruitment, where juvenile ravens call other ravens to a food bonanza, usually a carcass, with a series of loud yells. In Ravens in Winter, Bernd Heinrich posited that this behaviour evolved to allow the juveniles to outnumber the resident adults, thus allowing them to feed on the carcass without being chased away.{{cite book| last=Heinrich| first=Bernd| author-link=Bernd Heinrich| year=1989| title=Ravens in Winter| location=New York| publisher=Summit Books| isbn=978-0-671-67809-8| url=https://archive.org/details/ravensinwinter00hein}} A more mundane explanation is that individuals co-operate in sharing information about carcasses of large mammals because they are too big for just a few birds to exploit.Heinrich, B. (1999). Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds pp. 119–120. New York: Cliff Street Books. {{ISBN|978-0-06-093063-9}} Experiments with baits however show that such recruitment behaviour is independent of the size of the bait.{{cite journal|title=Winter foraging at carcasses by three sympatric corvids, with emphasis on recruitment by the raven, Corvus corax|journal=Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology | doi=10.1007/BF00300349|volume =23| issue=3| year= 1988 | pages=141–156| last=Heinrich| first=Bernd|bibcode=1988BEcoS..23..141H |s2cid=10471307 }}

Furthermore, there has been research suggesting that the common raven is involved in seed dispersal. In the wild, the common raven chooses the best habitat and disperses seeds in locations best suited for its survival.

{{See also|Bird intelligence|Corvidae#Intelligence}}

The brain of the common raven is among the largest of any bird species. Specifically, their hyperpallium is large for a bird. They display ability in problem-solving, as well as other cognitive processes such as imitation and insight.

File:Old NIKE Missile radar dome with ravens.JPG radar dome in Alaska with an evening roost]]

Linguist Derek Bickerton, building on the work of biologist Bernd Heinrich, has argued that ravens are one of only four known animals (the others being bees, ants, and humans) who have demonstrated displacement, the capacity to communicate about objects or events that are distant in space or time. Subadult ravens roost together at night, but usually forage alone during the day. However, when one discovers a large carcass guarded by a pair of adult ravens, the unmated raven will return to the roost and communicate the find. The following day, a flock of unmated ravens will fly to the carcass and chase off the adults. Bickerton argues that the advent of linguistic displacement was perhaps the most important event in the evolution of human language, and that ravens are the only other vertebrate to share this with humans.Bickerton, Derek (2009). Adam's Tongue. Hill and Wang. {{ISBN|978-0-8090-2281-6}}

One experiment designed to evaluate insight and problem-solving ability involved a piece of meat attached to a string hanging from a perch. To reach the food, the bird needed to stand on the perch, pull the string up a little at a time, and step on the loops to gradually shorten the string. Four of five common ravens eventually succeeded, and "the transition from no success (ignoring the food or merely yanking at the string) to constant reliable access (pulling up the meat) occurred with no demonstrable trial-and-error learning." This supports the hypothesis that common ravens are 'inventors', implying that they can solve problems. Many of the feats of common ravens were formerly argued to be stereotyped innate behaviour, but it now has been established that their aptitudes for solving problems individually and learning from each other reflect a flexible capacity for intelligent insight unusual among non-human animals.{{cite journal |last=Heinrich |first=Bernd |year=1995 |title=An Experimental Investigation of Insight in Common Ravens (Corvus corax)|jstor=4089030|journal=The Auk|volume= 112|issue=4 |pages=994–1003 |url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v112n04/p0994-p1003.pdf |access-date= 2007-05-16|doi=10.2307/4089030}} Another experiment showed that some common ravens could intentionally deceive their conspecifics.{{cite journal|last1=Bugnyar|first1=Thomas|last2=Kotrschal|first2=Kurt|title=Leading a conspecific away from food in ravens (Corvus corax)?|journal=Animal Cognition|date=2004|volume=7|issue=2|pages=69–76|url=http://klf.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/p_klf/Bugnyar_and_Kotrschal2004.pdf|doi=10.1007/s10071-003-0189-4|pmid=15069605|s2cid=6590368|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928155529/http://klf.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/p_klf/Bugnyar_and_Kotrschal2004.pdf|archive-date=2015-09-28}}

A study published in 2011 found that ravens can recognise when they are given an unfair trade during reciprocal interactions with conspecifics or humans, retaining memory of the interaction for a prolonged period of time. Birds that were given a fair trade by experimenters were found to prefer interacting with these experimenters compared to those that did not.{{Cite journal|last1=Müller|first1=J. J. A.|last2=Massen|first2=J. J. M.|last3=Bugnyar|first3=T.|last4=Osvath|first4=M.|date=2017-06-01|title=Ravens remember the nature of a single reciprocal interaction sequence over 2 days and even after a month|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347217301161|journal=Animal Behaviour|language=en|volume=128|pages=69–78|doi=10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.04.004|s2cid=27527201 |issn=0003-3472|hdl=1887/76850|hdl-access=free}} Furthermore, ravens in the wild have also been observed to stop cooperating with other ravens if they observe them cheating during group tasks.{{Cite journal|last1=Massen|first1=Jorg J. M.|last2=Ritter|first2=Caroline|last3=Bugnyar|first3=Thomas|date=2015-10-07|title=Tolerance and reward equity predict cooperation in ravens (Corvus corax)|journal=Scientific Reports|language=en|volume=5|issue=1|pages=15021|doi=10.1038/srep15021|pmid=26442633 |pmc=4595729 |bibcode=2015NatSR...515021M |issn=2045-2322}}

Common ravens have been observed calling wolves to the site of dead animals. The wolves open the carcass, leaving the scraps more accessible to the birds.{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/ravens/ravens.html |title=PBS Nature: The Bird in Black |access-date=2007-05-07 |publisher=PBS |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080717192617/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/ravens/ravens.html |archive-date=July 17, 2008 }} They watch where other common ravens bury their food and remember the locations of each other's food caches, so they can steal from them. This type of theft occurs so regularly that common ravens will fly extra distances from a food source to find better hiding places for food.{{cite web|url= http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF14/1426.html|title= The Raven's Game of Hide and Seek|access-date= 2007-05-07|last= Rozell|first= Ned|work= Alaska Science Forum|publisher= Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070611185753/http://gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF14/1426.html|archive-date= 2007-06-11|url-status= dead}} They have also been observed pretending to make a cache without actually depositing the food, presumably to confuse onlookers.Marzluff and Angell, p. 230

Common ravens are known to steal and cache shiny objects such as pebbles, pieces of metal, and golf balls. One theory is that they hoard shiny objects to impress other ravens.Marzluff and Angell, p. 232 Other research indicates that juveniles are deeply curious about all new things, and that common ravens retain an attraction to bright, round objects based on their similarity to bird eggs. Mature birds lose their intense interest in the unusual, and become highly neophobic.{{cite journal|doi=10.1007/s10211-002-0061-6|author1=Kijne, M. |author2=Kotrschal, K |year=2002|title=Neophobia affects choice of food-item size in group-foraging common ravens (Corvus corax)|journal=Acta Ethologica|issue=1|pages= 13–18|volume=5|s2cid=39984855 }}

The first large-scale assessment of ravens' cognitive abilities suggests that, by four months of age, ravens do about as well as adult chimpanzees and orangutans on tests of causal reasoning, social learning, theory of mind, etc.{{Cite journal |last1=Pika |first1=Simone |last2=Sima |first2=Miriam Jennifer |last3=Blum |first3=Christian R. |last4=Herrmann |first4=Esther |last5=Mundry |first5=Roger |date=2020-12-10 |title=Ravens parallel great apes in physical and social cognitive skills |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=20617 |doi=10.1038/s41598-020-77060-8 |pmid=33303790 |pmc=7728792 |bibcode=2020NatSR..1020617P |s2cid=228099688 |issn=2045-2322}}

There has been increasing recognition of the extent to which birds engage in play. Juvenile common ravens are among the most playful of bird species. They have been observed to slide down snowbanks, apparently purely for fun. They even engage in games with other species, such as playing catch-me-if-you-can with wolves, otters and dogs.Savage, pp. 70–71

Common ravens are known for spectacular aerobatic displays, such as flying in loops or interlocking talons with each other in flight.Savage, p. 76Heinrich, B. (1999). Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds p. 290. New York: Cliff Street Books. {{ISBN|978-0-06-093063-9}} And often, ravens can be seen soaring over hilly or mountainous terrain, taking advantage of ridge lift.

They are also one of only a few wild animals who make their own toys. They have been observed breaking off twigs to play with socially.Heinrich, B. (1999). Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds p. 282. New York: Cliff Street Books. {{ISBN|978-0-06-093063-9}}

File:Image-Pied Raven Hvidbroget ravn.jpg, a colour morph from the Faroe Islands]]

Compared to many smaller Corvus species (such as carrion crow and American crow), ravens prefer undisturbed mountain or forest habitat or rural areas over urban areas.{{cite journal|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/wb/v33n03/p0202-p0217.pdf |title=Abundance and distribution of the common raven and American Crow in the San Francisco Bay area, California |author=Kelly, J. P. |author2=Etienne, K. L. |author3=Roth, J. E. |name-list-style=amp |year=2002 |journal=Western Birds |volume=33 |pages=202–217}} In other areas, their numbers have increased dramatically and they have become agricultural pests. Common ravens can cause damage to crops, such as nuts and grain, or can harm livestock, particularly by killing young goat kids, lambs and calves.{{cite journal |last=Larsen |first=Kenneth H. |author2=Dietrich, John H. |date=January 1970 |title=Reduction of a raven population on lambing grounds with DRC-1339 |journal=Journal of Wildlife Management |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=200–204 |doi=10.2307/3799509 |jstor=3799509|doi-access=free }} Ravens generally attack the faces of young livestock, but the more common raven behaviour of scavenging may be misidentified as predation by ranchers.{{Cite book| date =May 6, 2005 | title =Sheep and Goats Death Loss | publisher =National Agricultural Statistics Service | url =http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do?documentID=1628 | access-date = 2007-12-27}}

In the western Mojave Desert, human settlement and land development have led to an estimated 16-fold increase in the common raven population over 25 years. Towns, landfills, sewage treatment plants and artificial ponds create sources of food and water for scavenging birds. Ravens also find nesting sites in utility poles and ornamental trees, and are attracted to roadkill on highways. The explosion in the common raven population in the Mojave has raised concerns for the desert tortoise, a threatened species. Common ravens prey upon juvenile tortoises, which have soft shells and move slowly.{{cite web|url=http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=160|title=Scientists Estimate Risk of Raven Predation on Desert Tortoises in the Western Mojave Desert|access-date=2007-05-11|author=U.S. Geological Survey}} Plans to control the population have included shooting and trapping birds, as well as contacting landfill operators to ask that they reduce the amount of exposed garbage.{{cite conference | first = WI | last = Boarman | title = The Raven Management Program of the Bureau of Land Management : Status as of 1992 | pages = 113–117 | work = Proceedings of 1992 Symposium | year = 1993 | location = California | url = http://www.werc.usgs.gov/sandiego/pdfs/Boarman_1993_DTCS_RavenManagementProgram.pdf | access-date = 2007-05-21 | archive-date = 2020-10-06 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201006163812/https://www.usgs.gov/centers/werc// | url-status = dead }} A hunting bounty as a method of control was historically used in Finland from the mid-18th century until 1923.{{cite journal | author = Pohja-Mykrä M|author2= Vuorisalo T|author3= Mykrä S | title = Hunting bounties as a key measure of historical wildlife management and game conservation: Finnish bounty schemes 1647–1975 | journal = Oryx | volume = 39 | issue = 3 | pages = 284–291 | year = 2005 | doi = 10.1017/S0030605305000785| doi-access = free }} Culling has taken place to a limited extent in Alaska, where the population increase in common ravens is threatening the vulnerable Steller's eider (Polysticta stelleri).{{cite web|title=Foraging Ecology of Common Ravens (Corvus corax) on Alaska's Coastal Plain (AK-93-48-51) |author=Minerals Management Service, Alaska |year=2007 |url=http://www.mms.gov/alaska/ess/ongoing_studies/biology/Gleason%20-%207B.pdf |access-date=2007-05-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070628042829/http://www.mms.gov/alaska/ess/ongoing_studies/biology/Gleason%20-%207B.pdf |archive-date=June 28, 2007 }}

Ravens, like other corvids, are definitive hosts of West Nile Virus (WNV).{{Cite journal|last1=Lavelle|first1=Michael J.|last2=Kay|first2=Shannon L.|last3=Pepin|first3=Kim M.|last4=Grear|first4=Daniel A.|last5=Campa|first5=Henry|last6=VerCauteren|first6=Kurt C.|date=2016-12-01|title=Evaluating wildlife-cattle contact rates to improve the understanding of dynamics of bovine tuberculosis transmission in Michigan, USA|journal=Preventive Veterinary Medicine|language=en|volume=135|pages=28–36|doi=10.1016/j.prevetmed.2016.10.009|pmid=27931926|issn=0167-5877|doi-access=free}} The transmission can be from infected birds to humans via Culex mosquito vectors, and ravens are susceptible to WNV. However, in a 2010 study, it was shown that the California Common Ravens did not have a high positivity rate of WNV.{{Cite journal|last1=Wheeler|first1=Sarah S.|last2=Barker|first2=Christopher M.|last3=Fang|first3=Ying|last4=Armijos|first4=M. Veronica|last5=Carroll|first5=Brian D.|last6=Husted|first6=Stan|last7=Johnson|first7=Wesley O.|last8=Reisen|first8=William K.|title=Differential Impact of West Nile Virus on California Birds|date=2009|journal=The Condor|volume=111|issue=1|pages=1–20|doi=10.1525/cond.2009.080013|issn=0010-5422|pmc=2892874|pmid=20589226}}

File:Bill Reid raven.jpg's sculpture The Raven and the First Men, showing part of a Haida creation myth. Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia.]]

{{See also|Cultural depictions of ravens}}

Across its range in the Northern Hemisphere, and throughout human history, the common raven has been a powerful symbol and a popular subject of mythology and folklore.

In some Western traditions, ravens have long been considered to be birds of ill omen, death and evil in general, in part because of the negative symbolism of their all-black plumage and the eating of carrion.{{cite web|url=https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=species.main |title=Raven: The Northern Bird of Paradox |access-date=2007-02-12 |last=Schwan |first=Mark |date=January 1990 |publisher=Alaska Fish and Game |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100102055945/http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=birds.raven |archive-date=January 2, 2010 }} In Sweden, ravens are known as the ghosts of murdered people, and in Germany as the souls of the damned. In Danish folklore, valravne that ate a king's heart gained human knowledge, could perform great malicious acts, could lead people astray, had superhuman powers, and were "terrible animals".Kristensen, Evald Tang. (1980) Danske Sagn: Som De Har Lyd I Folkemunde, Nyt Nordisk Forlag Arnold Busck, Copenhagen. {{ISBN|87-17-02791-8}}. p. 132.

It continues to be used as a symbol in areas where it once had mythological status: as the national bird of Bhutan (kings of Bhutan wear the Raven Crown), official bird of the Yukon territory,{{cite web|url=http://www.gov.yk.ca/aboutyukon/emblemsandsymbols.html |title=Yukon Territorial Bird |publisher=Government of Yukon |access-date=2007-05-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212123740/http://www.gov.yk.ca/aboutyukon/emblemsandsymbols.html |archive-date=February 12, 2012 }} and on the coat of arms of the Isle of Man (once a Viking colony).{{cite web | title = Island Facts – Isle of Man Government | author = Isle of Man Government | url = http://www.gov.im/isleofman/facts.xml | access-date = 2007-05-19 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070510212828/http://www.gov.im/isleofman/facts.xml | archive-date = 2007-05-10 }}

In Persia and Arabia, the raven was held as a bird of bad omen but a 14th-century Arabic work reports use of the raven in falconry.{{cite journal| title=Note on the common raven-Corvus corax| author=Phillott, D.C. |pages=115–116| journal=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal| year=1907| volume=3|url=https://archive.org/stream/mobot31753002183785#page/114/mode/2up}}

The modern unisex given name Raven is derived from the English word "raven". As a masculine name, Raven parallels the Old Norse Hrafn,{{Cite book |last1=Hanks |first1=Patrick |last2=Hardcastle |author-link1=Patrick Hanks |first2=Kate |last3=Hodges |first3=Flavia |title=A Dictionary of First Names |edition=2nd |series=Oxford Paperback Reference |year=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-861060-1 |page=226}} and Old English *Hræfn, which were both bynames and personal names.{{Cite book |last=Reaney |first=Percy Hilde |author2=Wilson, Richard Middlewood |title=A Dictionary of English Surnames |edition=3rd |year=2006 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-0-203-99355-2 |page=2594}}

File:Valkyrie and Raven (NGV).png speaks with a raven in a 19th-century illustration of the Old Norse poem Hrafnsmál ("raven song") by Frederick Sandys]]

{{Main article|Raven in mythology}}

In the Tlingit and Haida cultures, Raven was both a trickster and creator god. Related beliefs are widespread among the peoples of Siberia and northeastern Asia.{{cite journal |first=W. |last=Bogoras |year=1902 |title=The Folklore of Northeastern Asia, as Compared with That of Northwestern America |journal=American Anthropologist |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=577–683 |doi=10.1525/aa.1902.4.4.02a00020 |doi-access= }} The Kamchatka Peninsula, for example, was supposed to have been created by the raven god Kutkh.Worth, D.D. (1961). Kamchadal Texts Collected by W. Jochelson, 's-Gravenhage, Mouton. There are several references to common ravens in the Old Testament of the Bible and it is an aspect of Mahakala in Bhutanese mythology.{{cite web | title = The Himalaya Kingdom | author = Bhutan Tourism Corporation | url = http://www.kingdomofbhutan.com/kingdom/kingdom_2_.html | access-date = 2007-05-17 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070429002322/http://www.kingdomofbhutan.com/kingdom/kingdom_2_.html | archive-date = 2007-04-29 | url-status = dead }}

In Norse mythology, Huginn (from the Old Norse for "thought") and Muninn (from the Old Norse for "memory" or "mind") are a pair of ravens that fly all over the world of humans, Midgard, and bring the god Odin information. Additionally, among the Norse, raven banner standards were carried by such figures as the Jarls of Orkney,{{cite book |author1=Pálsson, Hermann |author2=Edwards, Paul | title = Orkneyinga Saga: The History of the Earls of Orkney | publisher = Hogarth Press | year = 1978 | location = London | isbn= 978-0-7012-0431-0}} King Cnut the Great of England, Norway, and Denmark,{{cite book | author = Campbell, Alistair |author2=Keynes, Simon | title = Encomium Emmae Reginae | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1998 | location = Cambridge | isbn= 978-0-521-62655-2 }} and Harald Hardrada.{{cite book | last = Sturluson|first= Snorri | title = King Harald's Saga: Harald Hardradi of Norway: From Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla | publisher = Penguin | year = 2005 | isbn=978-0-14-044183-3}}

In the British Isles, ravens also were symbolic to the Celts. In Irish mythology, the goddess Morrígan alighted on the hero Cú Chulainn's shoulder in the form of a raven after his death.{{cite web | author = Jones, M | title = The Death of Cu Chulainn | publisher = Academy for Ancient Texts | url = http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/cuchulain3.html | access-date = 2007-05-19}} In Welsh mythology they were associated with the Welsh god Brân the Blessed, whose name translates to "raven" and "crow". According to the Mabinogion, Brân's head was buried in the White Hill of London as a talisman against invasion.{{cite book | last = Ford | first = Patrick K. | title = The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales | chapter = Branwen daughter of Llŷr | publisher = University of California Press | year = 1977 | location = Berkeley | isbn = 978-0-520-03414-3 | chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/mabinogiothermed00fordrich | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/mabinogiothermed00fordrich }}

A legend developed that England would not fall to a foreign invader as long as there were ravens at the Tower of London; although this is often thought to be an ancient belief, the official Tower of London historian, Geoff Parnell, believes that this is actually a romantic Victorian invention.{{cite news |title=Tower's raven mythology may be a Victorian flight of fantasy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/nov/15/britishidentity.artsandhumanities |work=The Guardian |date=15 November 2004 |access-date=5 December 2008 | location=London | first=Maev | last=Kennedy}}

In the Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions, the raven was the first animal to be released from Noah's Ark. "So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth. He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground."{{Cite web|title=Genesis 8:6-8 - New King James Version|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%208:6-8&version=NKJV|access-date=2023-07-02|website=Bible Gateway|language=en}} The raven is mentioned 12 times in the Bible. In the New Testament Jesus tells a parable using the raven to show how people should rely on God for their needs and not riches (Luke 12:24).{{Cite web|title=Luke 12:24 - New Living Translation|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+12:24&version=NLT|access-date=2023-07-02|website=Bible Gateway|language=en}} The raven is also mentioned in the Quran at the story of Cain and Abel. Adam's firstborn son Cain kills his brother Abel, but he does not know what to do with the corpse: "Then Allah sent a raven scratching up the ground, to show him how to hide his brother's naked corpse. He said: Woe unto me! Am I not able to be as this raven and so hide my brother's naked corpse? And he became repentant."(بَعَثَ اللّهُ غُرَابًا يَبْحَثُ فِي الأَرْضِ لِيُرِيَهُ كَيْفَ يُوَارِي سَوْءةَ أَخِيهِ قَالَ يَا وَيْلَتَا أَعَجَزْتُ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِثْلَ هَذَا الْغُرَابِ فَأُوَارِيَ سَوْءةَ أَخِي فَأَصْبَحَ مِنَ النَّادِمِينَ) Qur'an 5:31, translation: Pickthall, Marmaduke The Meaning of the Glorious Koran: An Explanatory Translation, Amana Publications, 1st edition (1996) {{ISBN|978-0915957224}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|ref=Goodwin|author=Goodwin D.|year=1983|title=Crows of the World |publisher=Queensland University Press, St Lucia, Qld|isbn=978-0-7022-1015-0}}
• {{cite book |ref=Marzluff|author1=Marzluff, John M. |author2=Angell, Tony | year=2005 | title=In the Company of Crows and Ravens | isbn=978-0-300-10076-1 | publisher= Yale Univ. Press | location= New Haven }}
• {{cite book|ref=Savage | first=Candace | last=Savage | author-link=Candace Savage | year=1995 | title=Bird Brains: The Intelligence of Crows, Ravens, Magpies and Jays | isbn=978-1-55054-189-2 | publisher=Douglas & McIntyre | location=Toronto }}

• Heinrich, B. (1999). Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds. New York: Cliff Street Books. {{ISBN|978-0-06-093063-9}}

{{Commons category}}

{{Wikispecies|Corvus corax}}

• [https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/raven/ RSPB: Raven]
• [http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Common_Raven.html Common Raven Species Account] – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• {{InternetBirdCollection|common-raven-corvus-corax|Common raven}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20141202070159/http://aulaenred.ibercaja.es/wp-content/uploads/415_RavenCcorax.pdf Ageing and sexing (PDF; 3.1 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070509035938/http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/birds/Corvus_corax/ Common raven images at ARKive]
• [http://eol.org/pages/1177364 Corvus corax] at Encyclopedia of Life
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20161210102639/http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i4860id.html Common Raven – Corvus corax] – USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter (includes CBC/BBS range maps)
• {{VIREO|Common+Raven|Common raven}}
• [http://www.naturesongs.com/tyrrcert.html#cora Raven recordings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126064244/http://www.naturesongs.com/tyrrcert.html#cora |date=2021-01-26 }} at naturesongs.com

{{Corvidae|2}}

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