raven

a kind of bird – song bird – belongs to the crow family

{‘Raven’ is the common name given to the large-sized ‘crow’!}

medium-sized birds with glossy all-black feathers, cone-shaped head, strong cone-shaped pointed slightly down-curved beak (bill), pointed wings, medium-sized legs, relatively long wedge shaped tail; size: 1½-2½ feet in length and 700 grams to 2 Kg. in weight; feeds on just anything: carrion (= dead animals), small animals, such as rats, mice, frogs, lizards, small snakes, bats, bird eggs, insects, and plant matter: seeds, grain, cereals, fruit, vegetables, and the edibles from the human garbage dumps; lives for 10-15 years (some individuals are known to live for 35-40 years in the wild); about 10 sub-species, found all most all over the world

[A group of ravens is called a ‘unkindness’, ‘congress’, ‘conspiracy’ or ‘parliament’.  And the most common raven call is ‘croak’.]

There are several species of raven; some more noticeable ravens are: common or Northern raven, thick-billed (beaked) raven, white-necked raven, brown-necked raven, dwarf raven, chihuahuan raven, Australian raven,

common or Northern raven:

the commonest of all the raven species found in the northern hemisphere; common ravens have the largest brains of all bird species; intelligent, and have the problem solving ability in finding or reaching their food; one of the two heaviest of all ravens, the other being the ‘thick-billed raven’

thick-billed (beaked) raven:

2 feet long and weighs 1½ kg.; one of the two heaviest of all ravens, the other being the ‘common raven’, the beak, as the name suggests, is large and more conical in shape with the nose holes on the raised part of the beak (bill); the most prominent feature is the white patch on the top of the short-haired head and the back of the neck (the nape of the neck); feeding habits are the same as that of the other ravens and crows; found in the Horn of Africa

white-necked raven:

smaller than the common raven; feeding habits are the same as that of the other ravens; the important features are the large conical beak (bill), and the white patch on the back of the lower part of the neck; found in eastern and southern Africa

Compare: crow >>>

 

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