You are browsing the archives of ravens.

The Common Raven, sometimes called the Northern Raven, is an amazing bird.  Largest of the passerines, or perching birds, it has long been noticed, loved, and reviled for its size, its smarts, its je ne sais quoi. The raven makes an appearance in essentially every mythology that sprung up in its range from Christianity to the [...]

This spring I received a phone call from a friend of mine up here, whose growing interest in birds I’ve been nurturing. “I just saw some kind of duck fly by, it was being chased by Ravens” was what he told me. It was unusual that there’d be any sort of duck around, given that [...]

“Self,” I said to myself, “it is Thursday. You have used up all your New York blogging material. You need something to write about.” “Well, self,” I replied, “it would probably help if you took your nose of your book and went outside.” This seemed sensible, so I did. A cold front had passed over [...]

Ravens fascinate people.  Their obvious intelligence, their vocalizations, their roles in the mythologies of multiple cultures, their all-black plumage, their cachet, their just plain coolness.  And a good part of what makes ravens cool to the English speaking world is Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven.”  Anyone who has ever heard “The Raven” read aloud remembers [...]

I had great intentions this weekend to take one for the team. Really I did. My intent for this post was to head out for a little High Arctic mid-winter birding, and write about the difficulties of it, but I thought better of it.  The Canadian Arctic for much of this winter has seen unprecedented [...]

…is this black: Don’t even get me started on Gallinule Purple! If you’re a fan of crime novels set in Scotland, you might be more partial to author Ann Cleeves’ interpretation of Raven Black!

The first ever documented nesting of Common Ravens in New York City ended successfully, with all three nestlings becoming fledglings.  The happy change in status from nest-bound birds to flappy free fliers occurred over the last week, with the birds leaving the nest on May 31 and walking along the water tower support on which [...]

This past weekend, in addition to seeing a cooperative Orange-crowned Warbler, I made a quick stop at the raven’s nest in Kew Gardens after hearing reports and seeing pictures of the nestlings that are now visible begging for food when a parent returns to the nest.  It is only a matter of time before they [...]

It has been well over a month since I reported the ravens’ nest in Queens on 10,000 Birds, the first ravens nest reported in the history of New York City.  It is about time for an update, and it is a heck of an update!  The ravens have been spotted feeding nestlings by several observers, [...]

It’s not every day that one has a discussion about a spate of recent Common Raven Corvus corax sightings in one’s home borough.  It is even less common for such a conversation to lead to one of the participants claiming that not only are ravens common in his neighborhood but that they even nested there [...]

One of the most difficult of all things to endure for a crow, a raven, a wolf, or a human is to feel alone and separated from one’s own kind. A sense of belonging is one of the most universal of all feelings. — Lawrence Kilham Two ravens just glided passed my window, really nothing [...]