Monday, February 7, 2011

Part 3 of Northern Ravens of the Vermilon River. A Post to my World Tuesday.

See the shaggy feathers and the distinctive beak.




Note the distinctive Raven beak



See the food clutched in his beak

Having established the Raven's ancestry,and given some other interesting characteristics, let's move onto their intelligence.

Ravens have some 30 calls which are used for social interaction ranging from danger alerts to food alerts. Ravens can mimic other birds as well as humans. One Raven may mimic, in fact, a partner to guide them home.

They have large brains and show a problem solving capability as well as other cognitive processes of imitation and insight.An experiment to look at insight and problem solving involved suspending a piece of meat from a perch. To be successful, the bird had to sit on the perch, pull up the string, stand on the loops in the string to gradually get at the meat. Four out of five Ravens were successful. I know humans who couldn't work that out.

 They appear to have the ability to manipulate other animals to work for them. For instance, calling wolves or foxes to open carcasses for them for easy feeding.

They also appear to play for instance sliding in the snow, or engaging in aerobatics. All of these facts were taken from the same wikipedia article quoted in the Part 2 Raven post.

Feel like raising the Raven Banner yet?

I haven't moved onto a post on animals yet, but I think my admiration and respect for nature is growing exponentially, and for humans is declining at the same rate. 

A Post to My World Tuesday @ http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/
Posted by at
Labels:

40 comments:

  1. CarolFebruary 7, 2011 at 12:10 PM

    Great photos. Interesting info also. I love the first shot clearly showing his shaggy feathers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sylvia KFebruary 7, 2011 at 12:20 PM

    Terrific captures and I really enjoyed the info you included. He does indeed look shaggy in that first shot! Great post for the day! Enjoy your week!

    Sylvia

    ReplyDelete
  3. theconstantwalkerFebruary 7, 2011 at 12:39 PM

    Great info Gary... the bristling throat feathers and massive beak are both features of this lovely bird and are very well captured in the first image.

    ReplyDelete
  4. LouiseFebruary 7, 2011 at 12:46 PM

    Thanks for the information, Gary. Now that I know the difference, I'll be looking for them on my walks.

    I left you another rather long reply on you dog slaughter thread.

    ReplyDelete
  5. RandiFebruary 7, 2011 at 12:55 PM

    Awesome captures of the Raven. We have them here too. No Gary, the winter is still here. The snow in the town has been removed. The streets are so narrow in this old town and snow causes many problems.
    /Randi

    ReplyDelete
  6. Bob BushellFebruary 7, 2011 at 1:06 PM

    The Ravens seems to be alright.

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownFebruary 7, 2011 at 1:32 PM

    Hi Carol. They're really interesting fellows aren't they.

    ReplyDelete
  8. UnknownFebruary 7, 2011 at 1:33 PM

    Hi Sylvia K. He's quite the fellow isn't he?

    ReplyDelete
  9. UnknownFebruary 7, 2011 at 1:35 PM

    Hi Andrew. These are not all the same bird. This one is of course Hugin who sits on the shoulder of Odin as a counselor.

    ReplyDelete
  10. UnknownFebruary 7, 2011 at 1:37 PM

    Hi Louise. Just remember how smart they are. Maybe you want to elect some to Congress.

    ReplyDelete
  11. UnknownFebruary 7, 2011 at 1:38 PM

    Hi Randi. I knew you had them as they feature in Viking legend.This one looks like he dates from then.

    ReplyDelete
  12. UnknownFebruary 7, 2011 at 1:39 PM

    Hi Bob. Handsome fellows aren't they.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Martha ZFebruary 7, 2011 at 1:49 PM

    An interesting series, Gary. They are interesting birds to watch. I've become quite fascinated by avian behavior since I started blogging.

    ReplyDelete
  14. UnknownFebruary 7, 2011 at 2:14 PM

    They're surprisingly intelligent aren't they, Martha?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Pat @ Mille Fiori FavoritiFebruary 7, 2011 at 2:37 PM

    Hi Gary
    Wonderful photos! I've always admired Raven's/Crow's intelligence. They are fascinating birds.

    ReplyDelete
  16. UnknownFebruary 7, 2011 at 2:48 PM

    Thanks for the visit, and they sure are interesting birds.

    ReplyDelete
  17. CarverFebruary 7, 2011 at 3:06 PM

    Very interesting post and wonderful shots.

    ReplyDelete
  18. UnknownFebruary 7, 2011 at 3:07 PM

    Thanks Carver for the visit and kind words.

    ReplyDelete
  19. B i r g i t t aFebruary 7, 2011 at 5:03 PM

    I liked this and found it very interesting. Oh I would like to see a raven IRL. It is a very interesting bird and has been very important in many cultures.
    In our nordic mythology there were two ravens Hugin and Munin.
    http://fotochip.blogspot.com/2011/02/flowers-coin.html

    ReplyDelete
  20. RajeshFebruary 7, 2011 at 5:39 PM

    Wow! beautiful shots of the bird.

    ReplyDelete
  21. AlFebruary 7, 2011 at 5:41 PM

    Wonderful photos - I especially love the last one with the sense of movement and the prey clutched in the beak!

    ReplyDelete
  22. UnknownFebruary 7, 2011 at 5:55 PM

    Wonderful handsome birds, they have them at the Tower of London and say if they ever leave it will fall down. So far so good lol!

    ReplyDelete
  23. AnonymousFebruary 7, 2011 at 8:34 PM

    The raven is both clever and handsome!

    ReplyDelete
  24. GattinaFebruary 7, 2011 at 10:43 PM

    I am not a bird specialist, but I think we have some black once hanging around here.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Stewart MFebruary 8, 2011 at 12:20 AM

    Hi - Ravens and crows and just such great birds - shows you do not need a crazy colour scheme to be magnificent!

    The birds most people call "crows" here are ravens, but they are not has big as this one.

    Great shots.

    ReplyDelete
  26. GlennisFebruary 8, 2011 at 1:41 AM

    We don't have Ravens here, so it was great to learn about them.

    ReplyDelete
  27. eileeninmdFebruary 8, 2011 at 2:12 AM

    Great post and photos on the Ravens!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Müge TekilFebruary 8, 2011 at 3:02 AM

    Thank you for these beautiful photos and precious information dear Gary. Now I will observe more carefully the ravens in my neighbourhood (Moda) and try to catch their calls. You gave another important detail: "Their ability to manipulate other animals to work for them". Now I will observe the relation between the Ravens and other animals from this aspect. Thank you and have a wonderful day!

    ReplyDelete
  29. UnknownFebruary 8, 2011 at 5:09 AM

    Hi Birgitta.I spoke about the Norse legends in the first post as well as aborginal legends. I like to think this fellow is Hugin, after all he looks wise and old.

    ReplyDelete
  30. UnknownFebruary 8, 2011 at 5:10 AM

    Thanks Rajesh.

    ReplyDelete
  31. UnknownFebruary 8, 2011 at 5:11 AM

    Hi Al. If you look closely the prey is sort of red.

    ReplyDelete
  32. UnknownFebruary 8, 2011 at 5:12 AM

    Hi Sarah. And the ones at White Hill London prevent an Island invasion. Andrew checked and the Ravens at the Tower are doing fine.

    ReplyDelete
  33. UnknownFebruary 8, 2011 at 5:13 AM

    Hi Ladyfi. Hugin is all those things.

    ReplyDelete
  34. UnknownFebruary 8, 2011 at 5:14 AM

    Hi Gattina and you're lucky if you do.

    ReplyDelete
  35. UnknownFebruary 8, 2011 at 5:15 AM

    Hi Stewart. I think from his size he is Hugin who sat on Odin's shoulder in Norse legends.

    ReplyDelete
  36. UnknownFebruary 8, 2011 at 5:17 AM

    Hi Glennis and thanks for the visit. You certainly don't need any more imported problems.

    ReplyDelete
  37. UnknownFebruary 8, 2011 at 5:18 AM

    Thanks eileeninmd and keep the Raven Banner flying.

    ReplyDelete
  38. UnknownFebruary 8, 2011 at 5:19 AM

    Thanks Muge Tekil and keep the Raven Banner flying.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Hilke BrederFebruary 9, 2011 at 3:50 AM

    The corvids are my favorite birds, above all the ravens. I am a fan of Bernd Heinrich's books "Mind of a Raven" and "Ravens in Winter". Shows we are not the only species that can figure things out. Thanks, Gary, for posting this.

    ReplyDelete
  40. UnknownFebruary 12, 2011 at 1:21 PM

    As I said Hilke I know people who could'nt figure that out.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)