Latin name- Corvus corax
English name- Raven
Class- Birds (Aves)
Detachment- Passeriformes (Passeriformes)
Family- Corvids (Сorvidae)
Genus- Raven (Corvus)
The raven is the largest representative of the passerine order and one of the smartest birds in the world fauna.
conservation status
Ravens are common, but not numerous, in almost the entire territory of their vast range. According to the international status, it belongs to the species, the existence of which causes the least concern. It does not require special security measures.
View and person
Being an omnivorous bird, the raven is now, as a rule, quite closely related to humans (although it prefers to nest away from him). Throughout the year, crows often feed in city dumps and man-made landfills. There they find food in abundance. And, having such an excellent food base, crows are forced to endure the close presence of a person and can settle even on the outskirts of large cities.
Young crows are well tamed, but even after living in captivity for a long time, they remain quite independent. Adult birds are tamed with great difficulty or not tamed at all. Pet crows are often taught to pull out various lottery tickets and all sorts of papers with predictions that they perform with enviable dexterity and ease.
In the Tower of London, tame ravens have long been living on state support and with them special caretakers. There is a legend that as long as ravens live in the Tower, Great Britain will exist. So for the British, the presence of ravens is "a matter of life and death."
The appearance of the raven (large and black), its rough voice, behavior and nature of food (scavenger) served to ensure that he turned out to be a hero (most often negative) of mythology, folklore, fiction, music, painting. Most often in myths and legends, the raven is associated with evil and death. He flies to the place of bloodshed and pecks out the eyes of the dead warriors. In Scandinavian myths, ravens portend the death of heroes. In Russian fairy tales, ravens are also usually associated with evil spirits (with Baba Yaga) and with death. One of our darkest proverbs is also associated with not the best ideas about crows (and about people) “A crow will not peck out a crow’s eye.” However, there is also a positive image of a raven as a wise, strong and courageous bird. In the ancient oriental legend about Gilgamesh, only a raven released from Noah's ark was able to fly to the land, freed after the Flood. The image of the raven is reflected in fiction. So, the famous poem by the American poet Edgar Allan Poe is called "The Raven". The Russian writer I. A. Bunin has a story with this name.
In heraldry, the raven is a symbol of foresight and longevity, and its images are found in the coats of arms of both individual noble families and families, as well as cities and entire regions.
Distribution and habitats
The range of the raven is very extensive, it is distributed in Eurasia (including Greenland), North America and North Africa from the Arctic coasts to the subtropics and the northern border of the tropics. It rises to the mountains up to 5000–8000 m.In Russia, it is absent only on the northernmost peninsulas (Yamal, Taimyr, Gydan) and on most of the Arctic islands.
Ecologically, the raven is very plastic; it can live in a wide variety of landscapes: in the forest, desert, and mountains.
There are 9 subspecies of the raven, which differ mainly in size. On the territory of Eurasia, the sizes increase from west to east, that is, the crows living in Siberia are larger than their counterparts from Spain.
Appearance
The raven is the largest representative of the passerine order. Its body length is 60–65 cm, the wing length is 43–44 cm, the weight of males is 1.1-!.5 kg, females - 0.8-1.3 kg, wingspan - 1.4-!.5 m.
The plumage is black with a bluish, greenish or purple metallic sheen. The beak is sharp and strong, black. On the throat there is a "beard" of elongated feathers. The iris of the eyes is dark brown. The tail is wedge-shaped, which is clearly visible in a flying bird.
Sexual dimorphism is expressed only in size, males are somewhat larger than females.
The coloration of young birds is also black, but dull, without a metallic sheen.
Lifestyle, social structure and social behavior.
The raven is a very cautious bird, usually it does not let close to itself.
The beautiful, free flight of a raven is more like the flight of a bird of prey than the flight of other corvids, the bird can soar for a long time, and also perform complex figures in the air, especially during paired air currents. During a fast flight, the feathers emit a characteristic ringing.
The raven moves well on the ground, and before taking off, it makes several jumps on the ground, as if running up.
The behavior of ravens in nature (during nesting, feeding) is so complex, unpredictable and sometimes inexplicable from our human point of view that scientists are forced to admit that ravens have a certain intelligence. The interaction of ravens with each other, with other birds, with humans shows that these birds can solve quite complex life tasks, learn throughout their lives, and perfectly adapt to rapidly changing environmental conditions.
Ravens lead a sedentary lifestyle almost throughout the entire range, only in years of significant food shortages they can migrate from nesting sites. However, young ravens have a significant expansion. They roam in groups of 3-7 individuals and move over considerable distances. Ringing of young ravens in the European part of the range showed that they move 50–200 km from the place where they hatched from the egg.
Crows are active during the day when they go in search of food.
We can assume that the raven occupies the ecological niche of large birds of prey: like them, the raven nests in separate permanent pairs (no closer than 1 km from each other), has a large hunting territory, builds massive nests high on trees or rocks, feeds on carrion or actively hunts.
Feeding and feeding behavior
Crows are omnivorous, but the basis of their diet is carrion, so the main feeding places for crows are located near landfills and slaughterhouses. In addition, they can find prey in a variety of places - on forest edges, clearings and burnt areas, on mountain pastures, on sea coasts. The prey includes the corpses of both large animals and small animals, as well as birds and their eggs, frogs, insects, and on the coasts - dead fish, sea urchins, shellfish. Thus, the raven plays the role of a nurse in nature.
The early nesting of the crow (in February-March) is also connected with the feeding on carrion, when the corpses of animals that died during the winter thaw out from under the snow, on which sometimes up to a dozen nearby crows gather. However, the raven also manifests itself as a real predator and catches live animals, most often rodents and lizards. A pair of ravens by joint efforts can overcome a hare or a medium-sized wounded ungulate. There are cases when crows broke turtle shells and large bones, throwing them from a height onto stones. Sometimes crows stock up on food.
Vocalization
The raven's voice is loud, and its characteristic "kru" can be heard at a great distance. In addition to this "kru" crows can reproduce a variety of sounds, depicting the creaking of trees, the cries of other birds and animals, and even the human voice with their voice. Ravens living in captivity can be taught to speak not only single words, but also simple phrases.
Reproduction, parental behavior and rearing of offspring
Crows are monogamous, their pairs are constant. They reach sexual maturity at about 2 years of age.
The nesting area is large and also permanent. In case of loss of the nest for one reason or another, the crows remain on their site and build a new nest near the old one or occupy someone else's. Usually there are 2 nests on the site, which the pair occupies alternately in different years.
For nesting, crows choose fairly tall trees, and any - deciduous different breeds or coniferous, and in treeless places (tundra, deserts) adhere to rocks. Both birds build a new nest or repair an old one and choose branches of the main tree trunk for this.
Crow laying begins very early (in different parts of the range - in February-March) and this is due to the disappearance of the snow cover. Sometimes crows incubate clutch even in great cold (down to -30 degrees.). The clutch usually contains 4–6 blue-green eggs with dark spots. The interval between oviposition is 1-2 days. Incubation begins after laying the 2nd or 3rd egg and lasts 19–21 days. According to some sources, only the female incubates, according to others, the male also takes part. Normally, there is only one clutch per year, but if it is lost, a second clutch may be postponed. Both parents feed the chicks the same food that they eat themselves.
The chicks take to the wing at the age of 5–6 weeks, so the entire nesting period lasts about 1.5 months. The chicks that have flown out of the nest stay together on the parent site until the start of the next breeding season.
Lifespan
According to fairy tales and legends, the prophetic raven lives for 300 years. However, the real raven is not endowed with such longevity. According to some reports, he lives in nature up to 70 years, according to others - much less - about 30.
The history of life in the zoo
We have crows living at the exposition "Animal World of Russia" in the Old Territory. It is natural that all year round they are kept outside. Their loud guttural cry can often be heard walking around the Old Territory. Now 3 crows, a single male and a pair live in two neighboring enclosures. Sometimes, they are placed together in the same enclosure, but during the breeding season they often fight. This couple is elderly, they are almost 20 years old. Every spring there are mating games, nest building, the female even lays eggs, but nothing hatches from them. The female either abandons the clutch or eats the eggs, so the staff cannot even check whether they are fertilized or not.
The diet of crows includes both vegetable and animal feed, only about 600 g per day: various grains, bread, vegetables, nuts, meat, fish, cottage cheese, eggs and 2 mice daily.
Another 2 crows live in the "travelling animals" group. Zoo visitors cannot see them, but those residents of Moscow, where a lecture group arrives with tamed animals, can see them. Ravens tolerate city trips well and behave well at lectures, obeying the trainer and demonstrating all their natural qualities and virtues.
Today I propose to get acquainted with the most synanthropic bird - the gray crow. Absolutely all residents of cities and villages know this bird.
A bit of biology
First, let's talk about systematics. As a separate species, the crow (Corvus cornix L.) was described by C. Linnaeus together with a species close to it - the black crow (Corvus corone L.). Further research found that in the vast areas of contact, black and gray crows form mixed pairs, give full-fledged offspring capable of reproduction. This indicates that the gray and black crows in nature have not yet reached the complete reproductive isolation characteristic of the present species. Therefore, taxonomists combined the black and gray crows into one species - the crow (Corvus corone), giving them the rank of subspecies. Under a single species name, the gray and black crows are included in systematic summaries and large monographs. However, a 2002 study showed that hybrids are not born in all cases and are inferior in health to purebred birds - a sign of the formation of a new species, its separation from the parent species. Now the scientific name of the gray crow is Corvus cornix (actually just "crow"), and the black crow is Corvus corone.
Gray crow (lat. Corvus cornix) - a species of birds from the genus of crows. Outwardly, the gray crow has a large black beak, their plumage on the head is black, the neck and part of the hind back are ash-gray, the wings are black, but in the sun they acquire reflections of green. Black tail and paws. The underbelly is also grey. The crow's tail is wedge-shaped, with long tail feathers. The bird's beak is powerful and sharp, conical in shape, in some species it has a characteristic high bend. The legs of the crow are thin and long, with four fingers: 1 is turned back, 3 is forward. And a rather graceful body structure. On the ground it moves with wide steps, in case of danger it begins to “jump”. Weighs adult bird from 400 to 700 grams, and a body length of about 50 centimeters, while the wingspan reaches 1 meter. Distributed in Eurasia, where it reaches the Yenisei. A sedentary nomadic species, completely disappears in winter only from the northern periphery of the range.
Crows are omnivorous birds, they feed on insects, chicks and eggs, rodents and lizards, frogs, fish; plant food - the seeds of various plants, as well as the plants themselves, as well as food waste and carrion, which is of great importance for sanitation.
The Hooded Crow starts nesting in March-April (depending on the climate). When crows build nests, they separate from the flock and try to protect the boundaries of their area. In cities, the widespread breakdown into pairs and mating games can be observed already in February. The earliest chicks appear not earlier than April, in one clutch there are 3-6 eggs, less often up to 7-8. As a rule, birds do not use old nests; they make new ones, but not far from the old ones. V wild nature birds breed at a distance of 1-2 km from another pair, in the city this gap is much less. The breeding season is preceded by a current with air games, chases, somersaults in the air. Partners build a new nest every season. The Hooded Crow starts nesting in March-April (depending on the climate). Bird nests are arranged in parks and squares, in the fork of thick tree branches, power line supports, cranes, behind drainpipes. Crows build nests from dry branches or reeds, fastened with clay and turf, in addition, they often use wire, line the nest with feathers, grass, tow, cotton wool, rags, and synthetics. Near the nest behaves cautiously and imperceptibly. As is known, the limits of clutch volume in birds are a genetically determined trait. In crows, the minimum full clutch is 2 eggs, the maximum is 6, and the average clutch contains 3 to 5 eggs. The female lays 4-6 bluish-green eggs with dark speckles, from the end of March to May.
They are incubated by one female, for 18-19 days, without leaving the nest around the clock, the male feeds her during the incubation period. After 25 days, the chicks hatch and are fed by both parents. Growing chicks need food that is easy to digest and high in calories. The best food for them is the eggs of other birds. Ravens ruthlessly plunder other people's nests to feed their chicks. The chicks fly out around the middle of June, for some time they stay with their parents who feed them. In July, family flocks break up.
By autumn, crows are concentrated in large numbers around landfills, garbage dumps and other sources of food. They reproduce in the 2nd-5th year of life. The maximum accurately known age is 20 years.
Interesting Crow Facts
The crow is a professional scavenger with concentrated acid in the stomach, high temperature body and resistance to a huge number of infections. It is from her that a person practically does not have a chance to pick up an infection. Moreover, by exterminating dead birds of other species, as well as the carcasses of mice and rats, crows prevent the spread of many infections.
In Moscow, at the Rizhsky railway station, half a century ago, biologists noticed that the crows perfectly learned the schedule of suburban trains and learned to fly up to the platform just when the train was approaching the platform. Birds quickly flew into all the vestibules in turn, looking for scraps thrown by the passengers of the last flight. Moreover, sparrows and pigeons living there have learned the habits of crows, and to this day, bird patrols regularly fly over trains.
Ravens hide their prey, taking care that no one sees it. If another bird suddenly witnessed such an action, the prey will be hidden, but only when the unexpected witness disappears.
Female crows are quite picky in choosing a partner and look for certain qualities or traits in them. A good chosen one should be able to provide for a "family" and be smart enough. Males do everything to attract female attention: dead loops, flying upside down, and other aerobatics.
Crows communicate with each other, the crow language is extremely developed, has a rich "vocabulary". It has special sounds for courting the female, addressing the young, gathering, cursing, threatening, alarms, distress. Sometimes several birds make the same sound, in unison. For more volume. In cases where a general fee is declared. The sounds made by crows fit into the range from 0.5 to 4.0 kHz. And here's what's remarkable: different countries these birds have their own dialects - they do not immediately understand each other.
Crows leave most of their droppings under their nests, which they build in trees (you definitely shouldn’t park your car there). The crow, the only bird, can be taught to use the toilet - precisely because the bird knows how to control this process, tries not to dirty it in its nest, and usually empties its intestines when flying out and flying into it.
Ravens create one pair for life. In the event of a predator approaching, males can sacrifice themselves to save their soulmate and chicks.
There is another oddity in the behavior of birds, whom the crow dies, her comrades arrange a memorial service. Having found the body of a dead bird, for fifteen minutes they fill the space with heartbreaking cries, as if on command, the birds wipe, sit on the branches and mournfully remain silent. Modern researchers cannot explain this phenomenon.
Crows can count. If a crow is given a choice of two feeders with different amounts of food, it will almost always choose the one with more food. For example, 14 beetles were placed in one feeder, and 15 in another. A person could not immediately determine where there were more beetles, but the crows did it with ease. In addition, crows learn to recognize numbers very quickly and subsequently can even determine which number is larger and which is smaller!
Ravens do not just remember their offender, they transmit information to other birds. Surprisingly, even "children" will be hostile against those whom their parents have "cursed".
City crows love games, they are not afraid of dogs and cats. In the forest, birds often play with predators, people have watched the birds chase a fox, a wolf or an otter. In winter, people often watched the birds roll from the icy mountain and church domes. And crows love team games. One of the birds holds some small object in its beak, it can be a stick, a bump or a stone. the crow takes off heavily and passes the “pass” to another player. This continues until the toy is on the ground.
So, crows correctly determine the meaning of traffic lights - at red light they calmly pick up the corpses of animals hit by cars on the road, and at green they fly away. They perfectly distinguish what is in the hands - a person's stick or a gun, they distinguish between a child and an adult, a man and a woman. But it seems that this is not the limit and the crows are capable of more. They can do extraordinary things. Stop, look around, assess the situation. Recall what you have seen before.
In frosts, they sit down for the night, and closely nestle against each other, putting their heads under the wing and fluffing their feathers, which retain heat well.
Gray crows not only speak, but also master exactly the language in which they communicate with them. If a crow begins to imitate a voice, it does it with such intonations that you cannot distinguish the voice of a person you know from the voice of a crow.
The crow, unlike other birds, eats the contents of a stolen egg far from the crime scene and prints it from the blunt end. To transport the stolen bird punches a hole in the egg, inserts the upper part of the beak into the resulting hole, holding the prey from below. And so, with her mouth open, she leaves the scene of the crime.
In addition, crows have excellent memory and high learning ability. According to experts, they have the ability for rational activity, exhibit associative and logical thinking, possess elementary mathematical knowledge (count up to five, distinguish between shape, symmetry, size ratio, three-dimensional bodies and flat figures).
If in any place the nesting population of crows grows too large, the birds themselves reduce the number of offspring. Large overpopulation affects the growth of aggressiveness of crows, and they ruthlessly destroy the nests of their relatives.
When the bird finds dry bread, it will not immediately eat coarse food. The bird will look for a source suitable for any puddle, wait until the crust softens.
The crow dropped a crust of dried bread into the stream, and it disappeared into the pipe, carried away by the fast current. At first, the bird settled down at the entrance to the pipe and peered into the darkness for a long time. Then she confidently went to the opposite end of the pipe, where she waited for the lost prey. That is, the crow was able to correctly predict the course of events and showed the ability to extrapolate.
There were cases when a crow, protecting its offspring, threw small stones at people approaching the nest.
Means of communication. The sound signaling of birds is especially diverse. If chickens make 13 different sounds, roosters 15, tits 90, then rooks - 120, and gray crows - up to 300 (!). Most researchers are convinced of the signal nature of these sounds. With their help, birds convey a general emotional and mental state - anxiety, aggressiveness, joy from communication or pleasure when finding food. However, some ornithologists believe that birds have their own language, which is a means of communication, communication to convey certain information.
The gray crow is one of the most synanthropic representatives of corvids, a typical inhabitant of cities. There are both completely sedentary urban populations, and populations nesting in natural landscapes, as well as transitional ones. Many individuals living in forests countryside spend the winter in the suburbs and cities.
When feeding on a relatively compact food source (a waste bin, a large piece of hard-to-separate food, etc.), group members are fed in a relatively strict sequence. Filming data of feeding groups make it possible to single out three hierarchical stages (strata). Priority is always on the side of the local adult couple. From the feed, they can displace and expel any other member of the group. Conflicts rarely arise between members of a couple. When feeding one of them, the second waits nearby, maintaining an individual distance and a certain orientation in relation to the partner. In the absence of hosts, priority in feeding passes to some individuals of the second hierarchical level. This usually includes all birds of local origin (including first years) included in the group, as well as part of the immigrants. Within this hierarchical stratum, a linear-type hierarchy is observed, but not as rigid and stable in time as between strata. The third hierarchical stage, as a rule, consists of birds from mobile groups, temporarily feeding as part of a settled group.
Watching these birds, you can see: if a person is just walking down the street, the crows do not seem to notice him and can let him in 2-3 meters. But as soon as he stops and looks at them closely, they immediately bounce 10 meters away.
There is a famous Aesop's fable about how a crow threw stones into a jug to get to the water. Scientists decided to reproduce the events of the fable. Moreover, they did it with different crows four times and got the same results. A crow, a deep container of water in which tasty worms swam, and a pile of pebbles were placed in a cage. Crows just couldn't get worms. The results are amazing - 2 crows managed to find a solution on the second attempt, the rest figured it out the first time. At the same time, they began to throw not just any pebbles, but chose the largest ones. And they threw it exactly until the moment when it was possible to pull the worms out of the rising water.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Leonid Viktorovich Krushinsky, a professor at Moscow University, conducted the most interesting research on the abilities of animals. He proved that different animals act intelligently in a new environment for them, and not just on the basis of unconditioned and conditioned reflexes.
Ravens enjoy a very strange activity called enting. It consists in crushing the ants and rubbing them into the body. When the ants are crushed, formic acid is released, which is absorbed into the crows' skin and seems to give them a very pleasant sensation. Why do they do it? No one knows for sure, but there is no shortage of hypotheses. According to one such hypothesis, enting is a form of ant cooking that renders ravens immune to formic acid. This allows the crows to eat the ants without adverse effects.
Others believe that enting is a learned behavior or instinct that birds can't do anything about. Maybe formic acid is used as a kind of bath oil and has a soothing effect on the skin of birds. At the same time, the enting birds seem to be in a state of complete bliss. Maybe it's actually much simpler. And perhaps crows and other birds cover themselves with squashed ants simply because it gives them pleasure.
Ravens are able to ride on snowy hills, solely for the purpose of entertainment. It is not uncommon to see crows playing with other animals, most often cats and dogs. And in the wild - otters, wolves. In the game, the crow can use sticks, cones, balls and other objects that it finds nearby.
Undeservedly deprived of attention, I think, is such a representative of birds, which plays an important role in the spiritual life of our Ancestors, like the RAVEN.
Just do not confuse two different types of birds - a raven and a crow. The raven is the largest representative of the corvid family and the passerine order (body weight up to 1.5 kg). Ignorant people often confuse a raven with a crow and a rook. Moreover, many believe that a raven and a crow are a female and a male of the same species. But it should be noted that such confusion occurs only in Russian because of the almost identical name of two different species. In other languages, these birds have distinctly different names - for example, in English, the raven is raven, the crow is crow. The raven differs from the gray crow in its significantly larger size, pure black color, more massive beak and wedge-shaped tail. The rook is clearly distinguished from the raven and other corvids by the presence of a patch of unfeathered skin around the beak.
Unlike other corvids, it is a very cautious and distrustful bird, and never lets a person close to itself. It is almost impossible to meet him in the city. If the raven settles in the city, then in remote and hard-to-reach places - for example, on tall abandoned buildings.
Crow - settled bird. Found almost everywhere except North Africa and North America but rare everywhere. Crows feed on mouse-like rodents, food waste, large insects, animal corpses, eggs and chicks of other species, and fish. They also eat plant foods - grains of cereals, seeds and fruits of various plants. They live alone or in pairs, couples often do not break up even in winter. In late January - early February, mating games begin, in late February - early March they begin to build a nest in the crowns of tall trees, in coastal cliffs, rock ledges, power line supports, telegraph poles, towers. Both birds build a nest from thick branches mixed with clods of earth, bark, thin fresh twigs. Litter from dry stalks, wool, felt, pieces of cloth and cotton wool. In March, the female lays from 4 to 7 bluish eggs with brown spots. Incubation lasts three weeks. Only the female incubates and the male feeds her. The chicks hatch in early April and leave the nest in May. They stay with their parents who feed them for quite a long time - until autumn or even winter.
The myth of the long-lived crow was born out of the fidelity of an inseparable family of crows to the nesting place. When, many years later, another couple replaces the "old men", people simply don't notice it.
The fidelity of the raven inspires respect: if a male or female loses a pair, then he remains alone for life.
From an amazing aerial performance-dance begins and family life crows. Male and female rise high into the sky and, half-folded wings, together rapidly fall down. It seems that they will break, but strong wings unfold 50 meters from the ground and the flight-fall is replaced by a slow climb. Strict birds repeat air dances again and again, and then retire to build a nest in a tall tree. Having laid the first egg, the female does not leave the nest for a minute, because the severe February frosts can kill the chick hidden under the shell. From that day until the arrival of this spring, the raven father becomes the only breadwinner for the whole family.
The raven perfectly knows how to soar in air whirlwinds, gain any height and even fly backwards without losing height and speed. The unusual ability to fly in an inverted position allows it to defend itself with strong clawed paws from flocks of gray crows and hawks attacking in the air.
Their excellent memory is also surprising: having hidden supplies somewhere, they never forget their location (unlike the same magpies, who, burying cones for the winter, immediately forget about them, as a result of which, after these actions, whole groves grow. ..).
The raven is talented at imitating the various sounds around it. Birds of this species sitting in cages cry to ravens flying by in crows, to rooks in rooks. And a raven living in captivity for a long time can also imitate human speech, while pronouncing the words clearly, without the lisp and tongue twister characteristic of parrots.
Since ancient times, people have considered ravens wise, and perhaps they were right. “The raven often shows a comprehension almost equal to that of a human, and whoever does not recognize the mind of animals, let him watch the raven a little longer,” said the famous zoologist Alfred Bram. And the famous researcher of animal behavior Konrad Lorenz wrote: "I am convinced that the raven is the most mentally developed compared to all other birds."
No wonder our Ancestors had a special respect for this noble bird.
RAVEN is a prophetic bird, a faithful companion of the God-Controller Varuna. He accompanies the Souls of the dead to the Gates of Vyriya in the Great Svarga the Most Pure and informs the Navyam Souls about what high goals they have achieved in their Spiritual and Soul development and in the fulfillment of Life Purpose. If God Varuna decides that a person needs to be given the opportunity to complete the started deed, which he did not have time to complete due to a sudden death, then he sends his assistant, Raven, to the Soul of the deceased person.
Raven - the keeper of Living and Dead Water, gives the opportunity to the Soul of the deceased to return to his own body, so that a person, returning to the World of Reveal, could complete his unfinished business. In the world of Reveal, they say about such a person: "He survived clinical death"or" He returned from the next world. "Oddly enough, but after the return of the God-Controller Varuna of a person to his former life, a person changes his behavior, nor burns his life in vain and completes the work that he did not have time to finish.
In fairy tales, he sometimes helps the hero and even saves him, warning him of danger. In the form of Raven Voronovich, he kidnaps the sister or mother of the hero and either enters into a mortal battle with him, or becomes a true friend and observes the laws of kinship.
In Irish mythology, ravens are considered a symbol of fertility, but also the patron of warriors and a symbol of fierce battles. Odin, the supreme god of the Scandinavians, had two spy crows, Hugin (“thought”) and Munin (“memory”), who flew around the world and watched what was happening where, and then told the owner about everything they saw. The English tales speak of ravens that accompanied the legendary hero Bran everywhere. The hero's head, according to legend, is buried under White Mount, one of the Druid temples in what is now London. It is said that the Ravens jealously guard the grave of their friend, and when they fly away, the end of the world will come. In 1078, William the Conqueror built the White Tower on the site of White Mount - this is the oldest part of the current Tower of London.
Huge black crows live in the fortress now. There are only six of them, and by order of the monarchs they are very well looked after, as the English firmly believe that the day the ravens fly away from the Tower, the monarchy will fall. The Tower has employees specially hired to care for the ravens. They not only feed the birds and monitor their health, but also keep a diary in which they report on minor incidents in the life of birds, their character traits and habits. However, for now, the Taeurian crows seem to be happy with everything and are clearly not going to fly away - and, quite possibly, they simply cannot because of their size. Legendary birds roam imposingly along the paved paths and accept treats from tourists.
SIGNS ASSOCIATED WITH THE BEHAVIOR OF THE RAVEN
And here is how the ancient Indian sage Yavanacharya interprets the signs associated with the Raven in his writings.
"Learn to understand the signs that the Raven gives and you may be able to avoid major troubles or catch your luck."
Meaning: This is normal, you will not receive help, but there will be no barriers to work.
If he swoops in and pecks at the flag or cloth on the roof.
Means misfortune for the head of the family. You should fast on 4 Saturdays.
If he hits a vehicle.
Indicates an accident on an upcoming trip.
If it flies behind you and moves to the right.
You will get injured while traveling.
If he flies ahead of you, croaks and moves to the left.
Your work will be done without your trip.
If it flies from you from left to right and makes sounds from both sides.
Good income from work and from the trip too.
If he pecks at a dry bone.
Indicates a bone injury.
If he flies away from you and carries food in his beak.
Very good...
If he has hair in his beak.
Danger from fire.
If he is holding something metallic.
You will have success.
If he is holding something wooden.
You will not only be successful, but also make friends with a good person for a long time.
If he has something white in his beak.
It means good profit and profit in the profession. If you are in business, then a big income awaits you.
If he has something wooden in his beak.
Beware of bone disease or injury.
If he faces east
An influential person will help you.
If he faces west.
You will have a big problem, perhaps you will be punished.
If he screams twice while sitting on the waste.
Means making a profit.
If he sits on a broken branch.
Indicates an injury to the arm or leg.
If he sits on any temple and croaks.
You will have good income and money.
If he sits quietly on a tree with smooth leaves.
Within a few weeks you will have a financial profit.
If he sits on a dirty (unwashed) animal.
Successful and profitable completion of the business that you are thinking about at the moment.
If he sits on a dead body and does not eat it.
It means great difficulties, a problem related to life may appear.
If he sits on a bundle of cereals.
Very soon you will have good profit from a trip or a promotion or some kind of job.
If he sits to your left on a dry tree.
Loss at work.
If he stands on the ground with two feet and looks at the sun.
Some very educated person or head of state can die.
If he stands on the ground on one leg and looks at the sun.
A great misfortune may happen in this place and many may die.
If he leaves a white flower on your sheet.
A noble and holy soul is to be born in your family.
If he leaves something white in your house.
Soon your family members will have a profit and the birth of a boy.
If he is facing north.
Possible conflict in the workplace
If he flaps his wings in front of the entrance to your hotel.
You shouldn't stay here, it's better to move somewhere else.
If he flaps his wings while standing.
You'd better leave your thoughts immediately.
If he rubs the top of his head against a branch or hits it against a branch.
Means an upcoming problem with fire.
If it empties on your things
Good profit, the harmful influence of Saturn and Rahu is gone from your life.
If he sits on top and croaks
You will receive the help of friends and profit in work
If he sits on a tree, on a plant that looks like grass.
You may face punishment, be careful what you do.
If he sits on a tree with thorns.
You will have success
If he sits on your roof and croaks
Someone from relatives thinks about you or goes to visit you
If he croaks, looking south.
You may become a victim of a robbery.
If he steals something metal from you
Be careful, you may be in danger. You should fast on 42 Sabbaths and not wear black shoes
If he turns right.
You will not only be successful, but also have a good time.
If two crows eat together.
You have to make a very good profit.
If you hear a raven cry like a carr.
Very soon you will get what you have been wishing for a long time.
If you hear a raven cry like kaaaa.
You are going to travel in the near future.
If you hear the cry of a raven similar to kuu ku.
Means profit for the traveler.
If you hear a cry in a different way, for example, takurrr, etc.
Not a good sign, one Saturday you should fast.
If you hear the cry of kauhu, looking at some house.
Accidents can happen in this house.
If you see an even number of ravens together.
A good sign for the upcoming future, you will gain a good position in society.
During the trip, if you see him flapping his wings and flying away.
It will be a good and fruitful trip
Once upon a time, people did not even know how stupid animals were, because animals hunted, flew, swam and ran better than humans. That is, bypassed him on all counts. True, they did not know how (or did not want to) talk to us, but our ancestors, on the contrary, explained the silence of the animals with their exceptional mind. In addition, some animals seemed to acquire human speech, if they really needed it - such things are often told in legends. Therefore, our ancestors were sure that animals are just as perfect as humans, and even more perfect, because they have tails, wings, hooves and divine wisdom.
There were even those who were smarter than the gods. And the gods were often quite bestial. Everyone knows how the snake deceived Yahweh, the hare - the lord of the underground kingdom of Yanlo, and Athena did not go anywhere without her owl, which was the wisest of all the Olympic pantheon. And the poet, murderer, supreme ace Odin, for example, would have been an ordinary sclerotic, if not for the crows Hugin and Munin - Reason and Memory, who supplied God with the missing intellectual abilities. Not a single ancient Scandinavian would have dared to throw a stone at a black bird, since everyone knew what it was. The best way truly upset the one-eyed deity.
Over time, people still began to guess that the non-human mind of animals is very inferior to the human. Already in the Bible there are passages about unreasonable creatures, which were originally created for complete subordination to man in order to become his servants, helpers, friends, dinners and new leather shoes.
And for more than two thousand years, this idea has become so firmly entrenched in our minds that when late XIX- at the beginning of the 20th century, the first cautious information appeared that animals ... ahem ... as if, in general, also not quite complete idiots, this news was received by the public, even quite scientific, with hostility. Excuse me, but how can you compare? Man is the crown of creation, the measure of all things, the one and only bearer of reason, while animals have no reason, solid instincts, they are just machines in their own way. Otherwise, how would we eat them and ride them - on intelligent, feeling and thinking beings?! That is, all the same songs were heard that a few decades earlier were heard from the slave-owning regions, where the opinion that black people were much, much dumber than white people dominated. And, if you look, not even quite people, but, as it were, almost animals.
And until now, despite the nature protection funds, vegetarianism and other love for our smaller brothers, we refuse to admit that some animals have almost the same complex structure of consciousness as we do (even if this consciousness works differently). After all, this recognition would entail such ethical chaos, such a bundle of problems - social, moral, economic, and in general any, that it is easier to continue to consider any dolphin a stupid fish, and at the sight of a chimpanzee mastering the alphabet of the deaf and dumb, shrug your shoulders and mutter something then about the miracles of training.
But sometimes, in not the most serious publications (like ours), is it possible to tell the truth on the sly, in a whisper? Well, we won’t undermine world civilization if we write a small article about the fact that corvids are very smart birds that are not inferior to a child of 3–4 years old in intelligence and emotionality, and in some other parameters they noticeably surpass even adult Homo sapiens?
The most famous corvids
Crow
A large creature: a wingspan of up to one and a half meters, and a weight of under two kilograms. The smartest bird in the world and possibly an animal, if you don't count primates. It can live both near a person and on its own. Sung by the writer Edgar Allan Poe in the poem "The Raven".
Crows gray and black
One of the most common birds in the world. Absolute synanthropes: they live only next to a person and wherever there is a person (not counting conditions that are completely unsuitable for her, such as deserts - both hot and cold). Sung by the poet Ivan Krylov in the fable "The Crow and the Fox".
Magpie
All corvids love to carry things from people, but it was the magpie that became the most famous kleptomaniac: absolutely incredible things were found in its nests - from precious jewelry to sheets from stolen candidate dissertations. It was sung by the people, for example, in the counting rhyme "Forty-white-sided".
Rook
A serious nosy character, solid, businesslike and not prone to stupid antics. He lives more often in villages, where he helps the peasants, picking out the larvae of harmful insects from arable land (however, useful ones too). Likes to winter in the south. It was sung by the artist Alexei Savrasov in the painting "The Rooks Have Arrived".
Jackdaw
Small compared to other corvids with a small beak and a gray neck. It constantly runs after rooks, hiding among their massive carcasses from predators and eating up the remains of nuts and acorns torn apart by rooks (near the nose itself, hard nuts have not grown up to crack). The galchonok was sung by Uspensky in "Prostokvashino" ("Who's there? Who's there?").
Jay
The most unintelligent of the corvids. Lives most often in forests, sometimes far from human habitation. Prefers plant foods: nuts and seeds. Although the sausage offered by you, too, will not refuse. Knows how and loves to imitate the voices of birds, as well as human speech. If they have been shouting at you from the sky for two hours already: “Senya, go home, your mother!” - it's probably the jay mocking you. It was sung by director Evgeny Ginzburg in the film "The Wedding of the Jays".
Crows vs Elephants
A few years ago, under the auspices of the Animal Planet channel, a rating of the most intelligent animals in the world was compiled. A dozen universities, anthropological and zoological societies, laboratories of evolutionary psychologists and ethologists participated in the ranking - in general, the jury is very respectable. In the first place, as expected, were primates, in second - more or less deservedly dolphins. But on the third after long and heated disputes, heavily puffing, climbed the elephants, pushing the contenders for whom the scientists voted from the prize-winning place. But the television people were really rooting for the elephants.
Because the elephant is the same thing! People love elephants. Elephants are cool! Elephants must be protected, wonderful programs should be made about them.
And about those who were illegally and scandalously ousted from the pedestal, you can’t shoot much. They are too well known to people, no exotic: there are heaps of these intellectuals in any garbage heap.
Therefore, corvids in the ranking were in fourth place, and even in the company of parrots for some reason, although there will be more intellectual difference between a common raven and some budgerigar than among jury members with pig-tailed macaques *.
How crows are friends with humans
A unique feature of corvids is that most of their species are absolute synanthropes. The gray and black crows were especially distinguished here: in general, they practically do not occur further than a few kilometers from human habitation. True, there are cases when people saw crows in the remote taiga, but only for the reason that young crows sometimes tie up with geological and other expeditions and can accompany a detachment walking or riding horses or boats for weeks and even months. Yes, of course, the crows are very interested in our garbage dumps and landfills. And human houses can also be used to build nests, although even very urban crows still prefer to build nests in trees. In addition, there are usually no birds of prey next to a person (although cats, if you look, are almost as malicious, and there have always been plenty of them around people).
But all this is not, most likely, the main reason. The fact is that, according to the observations of Konrad Lorenz, the famous ethologist, crows spend a large part of their day watching us. Let us remind you that the vision of crows is excellent: a hundred meters for them is a close and well-visible distance. The curiosity of these birds is enormous, and our life for them is an infinitely varied show, also with prizes in the form of sausage cores pouring into the trash. Ravens perfectly distinguish and remember people, even distinguish their voices, they are quite vindictive, but at the same time they are good at reading the mood and intentions of a person. So these birds cannot imagine life without us. Yes, we can be dangerous, but at the same time we are their breadwinners, protectors and clowns. It is not surprising that corvids are one of the most easily tamed animals, and often the first to take a step towards a person: weakened, sick or very young birds often come to human housing for help.
How a man is friends with crows
The time when ravens were worshiped as "infernal mediators of the other world" (quote from one very scientific article about the raven), long gone. Among the Greeks and Romans, the raven was the sacred bird of Apollo, in Scandinavia, as already mentioned, Odin's companion, the Slavs considered him to be a bird and made predictions on the "raven's edge". With the advent of Christianity, all this reverence, of course, came back to haunt the bird: it began to be considered a servant of the devil (and who else were all these Odins and Apollos from the point of view of Christians?). The habit of large ravens to feed on the battlefields with the bodies of the fallen, and on the gallows with the corpses of the executed, was also considered disgusting, although, to the credit of the ravens, we note that in fact they did not arrange battles and put together the gallows, they only removed as best they could, preventing, among other things the spread of epidemics.
However, sometimes ravens were revered even in Christian countries. In the Tower of London, for example, ravens, which are considered symbols of the British crown, still live without fail, a special budget is even allocated for their food. But with the advent of firearms, the crows had to massively move from villages and villages to cities, as the villagers liked to hang the corpses of shot birds, their relatives, around fields and gardens. Such a spectacle of crows - social, intelligent and emotional animals - frightens and shocks. Although the crows did not cause much damage to the fields and gardens - well, they ran around the beds, played, pulled beets and rutabaga by their tails ... They could steal an egg from a chicken coop or a chicken, it was such a sin. But crows could not be called real pests of crops, and the abundance of their corpses on crosses in the fields was mainly due to the fact that it was fun and easy to shoot a large crow accustomed to humans. In the XVIII-XIX centuries, the active settlement of cities by ravens began. Here, no one really shot at them, garbage heaps were heaped up by mountains, life was more interesting and eventful. And until now, most of the crows of the world are city dwellers, inhabitants of large cities. In Moscow, for example, a few years ago the population of gray crows was 300-350 thousand. Since the city authorities and the crowhunters, who have become incredibly active in recent years, have taken up the fight against crows, their number has fallen at least 3-4 times. In some districts of Moscow, for example in Central, the crow has now become a rare animal.
See for yourself what crows can do and decide whether it was fair to trample them with elephants?
01. Ravens recognize themselves in the mirror
That is, they do not just see their reflection and react to it with screams or do not notice point-blank - even dogs are capable of this. Ravens understand what it is, look around themselves (and not without pleasure), remove all sorts of fluff from themselves, using reflection. Elephants do nothing of the sort. But primates - chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans - also like to show off in front of the mirror, perfectly aware of who is grimacing at them in response.
02. Crows have their own language
Not just alarms or something like that, but real language, which includes several hundred words at least. The Konrad Lorenz Austrian Center for the Study of Crows reports 250-300 separate well-established signals, recognizing that the data is incomplete, since some of the sounds uttered by ravens are not recorded by our ears, and registering sounds on various devices is very difficult to decipher. Moreover, crows have dialects that vary from locality to locality, and a crow, say, a Chinese one, will not understand a word of what a crow, for example, a Spanish one, says to it. Ethologists are absolutely sure that crows communicate in quite detailed sentences: “A man in blue feathers is walking behind large trees and holding a loud stick - save yourself who can!” And the fact that biologists still do not know how to understand the language of crows at all (as well as the language of monkeys and dolphins, by the way), does not speak in favor of the intellect of Homo sapiens. After all, crows and monkeys are perfectly trained to parse the words of human speech and understand some of them.
03. Crows count to ten
This is confirmed by the experiments of the Biocenter at Moscow State University. The crows were asked to choose food from different boxes, and the crows unmistakably chose the box on the lid of which there were more marks than the others: not five or seven, for example, but nine; not two or three, but five. For it was in boxes with a large number of marks that they were always served food.
04. Ravens model the behavior of other people and animals
For example, jays (also corvids, as we remember) like to hide acorns and nuts in hiding places. The vision of corvids is excellent, much better than human, so a jay hiding an acorn always looks around anxiously - is there another jay following it from somewhere? And if secret surveillance is noticed, then the jay leaves the acorn in the hiding place and flies aside. It waits for the observing jay to fly away, and then rushes back to the hiding place, grabs an acorn and flies to hide it in another, unlit place. That is, it builds a complex model of the opponent's probable actions (it can fly in when the owner is not there and embarrass the stash) and gives him false information about his intentions.
05. Crows use tools
Even worse, they make tools. Even worse, they make tools to obtain other tools, which, according to many anthropological characteristics, indicates the presence of a full-fledged mind! The experiment in which a raven connects two sticks to push a long hook out of a slit, with which he will fish out a treat from a jug, was carried out at Cambridge University, repeated and recorded by New Zealanders and Austrians. Moreover, if the Austrians and the British worked with the crows, the New Zealanders successfully repeated the task with the Caledonian black crows.
06. Ravens determine the physical properties of objects and understand the operation of some physical laws
At the same University of Cambridge, the crows quickly guessed how to get the key they needed to open the box with the feeder from a narrow and deep vessel of water. They threw stones at the adjacent vessel until a key, tied to a rubber tag, floated to the top, rising with the level of the liquid in both vessels. Moreover, when scientists threw several pieces of cork and rubber that looked like stones on the area with stones, the crows, poking a fake with their beak, lost interest in it, because they immediately realized that this load would not help them: too light, it would float on top.
07. Crows play half of their free time
Even adults. Even very old ones. The list of games loved by these birds is huge: they ride from hills and domes of churches (sometimes even using cardboard or, for example, can lids); tease dogs and cats, pretending to be lame or injured, while a partner sneaks up behind and pecks at the victim's tail; they pull branches and papers that they absolutely do not need from each other, rustle packages, roll bottle caps on the asphalt, splash water, dance, swing on branches and perform other acrobatic exercises, drag all sorts of small things out of windows, mimic people's voices, throw them at us from above small pebbles (hit - missed) ... There is a known case with deputies of the Legislative Assembly of the Sverdlovsk region in 2012: after a rock garden was arranged on the roof of the parliament building, local crows gathered in a large flock and fired at the parked cars of deputies with these stones, breaking several windows and ruined the hoods. The crows were clearly amused by the sight of the drivers and officials rushing around the cars and impotently shaking their fists at the sky. In a word, crows perform a lot of unnecessary for survival, but extremely exciting actions. At the same time, unlike, for example, domestic dogs, crows are forced to take care of themselves; life is rather cruel to them and, it would seem, leaves no time for nonsense.
08. Crows understand the operation of mechanisms, transport, city services
For example, in Moscow, at the Rizhsky railway station, half a century ago, biologists noticed that the crows perfectly learned the schedule of suburban trains and learned to fly up to the platform just when the train was approaching the platform. Birds quickly flew into all the vestibules in turn, looking for scraps thrown by the passengers of the last flight. Moreover, sparrows and pigeons living there have learned the habits of crows, and to this day, bird patrols regularly fly over trains.
09. Crows have the highest level of socialization
Every morning at about the same time, the cities of the planet resound with croaking. These are crows who have awakened and already had time to eat and begin to loudly discuss their plans for the day with all the companions in the district. The din lasts about half an hour or an hour, after which the morning roll call stops, the birds fly away on their own business: young people - in flocks, family - in pairs, outcasts and independents - in splendid isolation. In the evening, about an hour before sunset, the event is repeated. No group of researchers has yet been able to decipher the crow language, we can only guess what information the birds give each other. It is only known that the appearance of new dumps, large carrion or brigades for the destruction of birds becomes immediately known to all groups of crows in the area.
Why are the crowhunters and the authorities fighting the crows?
The first - out of malice, the second - out of stupidity. But all this, of course, is explained by exceptionally good goals. For example, such.
Crows are carriers of infection
Lies. The crow is a professional scavenger with concentrated stomach acid, high body temperature, and resistance to a vast number of infections. It is from her that a person practically does not have a chance to pick up an infection. Moreover, by exterminating dead birds of other species, as well as the carcasses of mice and rats, crows prevent the spread of many infections.
Crows destroy other bird nests, including rare ones: robins, titmouses, robins, buntings, etc.
Partly a lie. Yes, all corvids love to eat eggs and sometimes steal chicks from nests. But it is robins, oatmeal and other rare trifles that they rarely come across. The menu of corvids mainly includes pigeon and sparrow clutches, since there are many of them and they are located in places convenient for crows: drains, chimneys, etc. But forest birds prefer to nest in thorny dense bushes and other corners that are hard to reach for crows . And just the destruction of such thickets and the general reduction of wastelands, trees and bushes is the main reason for the disappearance of many species of birds from cities.
Crows pollute buildings- municipalities go broke on painting and whitewashing. And what do they turn cars into!
Lies. Crows leave most of their droppings under their nests, which they build in trees (you definitely shouldn’t park your car there). The crow, the only bird, can be taught to use the toilet - precisely because the bird knows how to control this process, tries not to dirty it in its nest, and usually empties its intestines when flying out and flying into it. But people like to justify themselves. Not a single resource of crowhunters, where the brave exterminators of the “gray bastards” gather, can honestly admit that I am, they say, a sadistic bastard who enjoys watching how an almost rational creature flutters, suffers and dies, which did nothing wrong to me and which could not protect me in any way. No, the crowhunters really want to believe that they are good fellows and heroes saving humanity from croaking evil.
And all because the mind can be very, very different. And sometimes it manifests itself in such a way that it is difficult to guess about its presence.
Text: Danila Maslov
The crow is a bird belonging to the order Passeriformes, the corvidae family, the genus in O rony ( Corvus).
Previously, in Russia, the crow was called "vra". According to linguists, the name of the bird is most likely consonant with the words "witness", "enemy", "enemy".
Crow: description, characteristics and photo. What does a bird look like?
Ravens are the largest representatives of the order of passeriformes. The length of the bird varies between 48-56 cm. The male is larger than the female, the weight of the male is 700-800 grams, the females weigh from 460-550 grams. The length of the wing of the male crow reaches 27-30 cm, in the female individual the wings grow from 25 to 27 cm. Strong wings in most species are distinguished by a pointed shape. The wingspan of a crow is about 1 m.
All kinds of food waste is the usual and favorite food of the crow, so a large accumulation of these birds is often observed in city dumps. The crow feeds on insect larvae that teem in manure.
In the absence of animal food, the crow eats plants and their seeds, fruits and vegetables.
Types of crows, names and photos
The genus includes several types of crows:
- Black Crow(corvus corone)
It has black plumage, as well as black paws, feet and beak. Therefore, the bird is often confused with the rook. However, the plumage of the black crow has a much greener sheen than that of the rook, and sometimes even a purple sheen. The body length of an adult is 48-52 cm.
The range of the species covers the territory of Western and Central Europe, where the black crow lives together with one of its subspecies - the eastern black crow (lat. Corvus corone orientalis), which lives in East Asia. On the territory of Russia, black crows nest in Eastern Siberia and the Far East.
- Hoodie(Corvus cornix)
According to one of the classifications, the gray crow is separate view, according to another is a subspecies of the black crow. The length of the bird reaches 50 cm with a weight of 460-735 grams. The gray crow differs from the rook in the greater width of the wing and a particularly pronounced inclination of the beak. The body is painted grey. The head, chest, wings and tail of the gray crow are black in color with a slight metallic sheen.
The gray crow lives in Eastern and Central Europe, the Scandinavian countries, Asia Minor and throughout Russia, from the western part to the Kara Sea.
- australian crow(corvus coronoides)
It is the largest of three related species found in Australia. The body length of the crow is 46-53 cm, and its weight is on average 650 g. The black plumage of the crow casts a blue-violet or blue-green sheen. A distinctive feature of all crows living in Australia is the white iris of the eyes and pronounced neck feathers. The throat of young specimens is covered with such rare feathers that pink skin appears between them.
The Australian Crow lives in Sydney and Canberra.
- south australian crow(Corvus mellori)
It is distinguished by completely black plumage, long wings and a thin, strongly curved beak. A medium-sized species, the length of an adult crow is 48-50 cm. According to some scientists, the bird prefers only plant foods.
The South Australian crow lives in the southeast of Australia, as well as on the King and Kangaroo Islands.
- bronze crow(Corvus crassirostris)
It was originally called the vulture crow. Large representatives of the species have a body length of 60-64 cm. The beak of a bronze crow is quite large and exceeds the length of the head. The color of the crow is completely black, with a single white spot on the back of the head. The tail of the crow of this species is characterized by a stepped arrangement of feathers.
The bronze crow lives in the highlands and high plateaus of East Africa: Ethiopia, Eritrea, as well as Sudan and Somalia.
- white-necked crow(Corvus cryptoleucus)
A typical representative of the genus, distinguished by the white bases of the feathers on the neck. The body length of an adult is 50 cm. This species of crow is common in the southeastern United States and northern Mexico.
- big-billed crow(Corvus macrorhynchos)
The bird has a very large beak. The size of the crow depends on the habitat: representatives of the northern populations are larger than the southern ones, have a large beak and well-developed feathers on the neck. On average, the length of adult crows is 46-59 cm, and the weight reaches 1.3 kg. The body is covered with dark gray feathers. The wings, tail and head of the big-billed crow are black, with a purple or green tint.
The species includes 15 subspecies living in the continental part of Asia and Far East Russia, as well as inhabiting the islands: the Philippines, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Hokkaido, Yakushima and many others.
- bristly crow(Corvus rhipidurus)
It grows up to 47 cm in length and is very similar to the black crow. However, the bird has a characteristically thickened beak, long wings, shortened tail and very short throat feathers. The type of bristly crows is distinguished by a black glossy color and feathers and paws characteristically shimmering purple-blue. Crow feathers on the back of the head have a white base.
The habitat of this bird species begins in the Middle East, passes through the northern part of the African continent, along the Arabian Peninsula, through Kenya and Sudan to the Sahara desert.
- bangai crow(Corvus unicolor)
The smallest crow of this genus, growing up to only 39 cm in length. The species is characterized by black feathers and a short tail.
The least studied species of crow, found exclusively on the island of Peleng in Indonesia. The species has the status of endangered and, according to scientists, the population today contains from 30 to 200 individuals.
White crows are very rare in nature - the result of a mutation-albinism.
An albino can appear in any species group and will differ from relatives only in white plumage and extreme vulnerability.
How do crows breed?
At the age of 2 years, most species of crows are ready to breed. Ravens are monogamous birds and choose mates for the rest of their lives. The mating games of the male and female crows are distinguished by intricate aerial turns, chases and somersaults. Reproduction of the most common species of these birds occurs in early to mid-spring.
On the left is a female crow, on the right is a male crow
The crow builds its nest in forest parks and squares, their laying takes place in the fork of strong tree branches, on power line supports, cranes, and behind drains. Species living in steppe and semi-desert landscapes arrange nests in crevices of rocks and cliffs. Both future parents usually take part in the construction, painstakingly building a nest from twigs and twigs. The crow's nest does not exceed 0.5 meters in diameter and has a height of 20-30 cm. Sod, clay, and often pieces of wire are used for fastening. The bottom of the nest is lined with feathers, down, dry grass, cotton wool and rags.
Depending on the type of bird, the clutch contains 3-6 or 4-8 light green or bluish eggs with dark spots. The female crow inseparably incubates the clutch for 17-20 days. The male crow feeds his companion and takes care of her throughout the entire time of incubation of eggs.
After 25 days, naked crow chicks are born, which are fed by both parents. Cubs fledge a month after birth.
You should not try to pick up a crow chick that accidentally fell out of the nest. Parents raise a terrible noise, calling relatives with cries, and zealously protect the cub. A flock of crows is attacking a dangerous alien, be it an animal or a person.
At the beginning of summer, the offspring of the crow begins to fly out of the nest, and for the first month remains with their parents, who continue to take care of them. In July, the young finally leave their native nest.
However, family ties remain, and sometimes the offspring of past years, instead of creating their own family, helps their parents feed and raise their brothers and sisters.
Crow at home
If you want to have a crow at home, then it is advisable to choose a young individual or even a chick. The crow is far from being a clean animal, there will be enough dirt from it. It is advisable to make an aviary for her and put linoleum or some kind of metal coating on the bottom, which can be covered with sawdust. Caring for a crow at home is quite difficult, the bird should be bathed, sunbathed, and also given the opportunity to fly.
Many people wonder how to tame a crow. This will be easy if you take a 2-3 month old crow. But if the crow is older than 6 months, do not expect obedience from it.
So, in order for your crow to become tame, you must, in addition to caring for it, give it at least 2-3 hours a day for walks and training every day. Ravens can be trained as birds of prey, and they can also be released into the wild for a walk. True, for a start it is better to do this with special leather straps on the paws. When your domestic crow begins to behave obediently, you can let it fly freely, and it will definitely return to you.
potatoes, citrus fruits, milk and sweets are best limited. It is strictly forbidden to give the bird salt and salty foods.
- Crows are smart birds especially when it comes to food. The crow will not spoil its beak, trying to extract the contents of the nut, but will throw it on the roadway and wait until the wheels of the car crush the shell.
- A crow will never eat hard breadcrumbs, but will first soak the delicacy in a puddle.
- At the end of the last century, triangular milk bags were very popular among crows. If it was possible to pull off a full bag of milk, the crow bent the sharp tip of the bag with its beak for ease of carrying, and in a safe place pierced a hole in it and enjoyed fresh milk.
- Crows do not like to be bored, so they will never miss an opportunity to have fun. In winter, birds ride down icy slides and sloping roofs of cathedrals, and in summer they tease cats and dogs with rapture.
- You can often see how the crows play: one flies high and throws some object, the other, deftly diving, picks up, soars up, and the game continues.
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