Common Raven: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Crows and Clever Birds · day 1 of 7

Five facts

1. Young ravens are among the most playful birds. They have been seen sliding down snowbanks, seemingly just for fun.
2. Ravens know thieves are watching. Some pretend to hide food without leaving anything, probably to fool onlookers.
3. By four months old, young ravens score roughly level with grown-up chimpanzees and orangutans on tests of reasoning and learning.
4. Ravens notice an unfair deal. In a 2011 study, they remembered who cheated them and preferred people who had traded fairly.
5. If a raven's partner goes missing, it copies its partner's calls to encourage it to come back.

The quiz

1. What have young ravens been seen doing just for fun?

• Sliding down snowbanks (correct)
• Building sandcastles
• Swimming races
• Digging tunnels

Juvenile ravens slide down snowbanks, apparently for fun.

2. Why might a raven pretend to hide food?

• To practise for winter
• To confuse ravens watching it (correct)
• To feed its chicks
• To clean its beak

Fake caches are thought to confuse onlookers that might steal.

3. By four months old, ravens do about as well on thinking tests as which animals?

• Goldfish
• Adult chimpanzees and orangutans (correct)
• Newborn kittens
• Snails

Young ravens matched adult great apes on many reasoning tests.

4. Which people did ravens prefer in a study on fair trades?

• Those who wore black
• Those who shouted the loudest
• Those who never spoke
• Those who traded fairly (correct)

Ravens preferred experimenters who had given them a fair trade.

5. What does a raven do when its partner goes missing?

• It flies south
• It stops calling
• It copies the partner's calls (correct)
• It builds a new nest

It reproduces its partner's calls to encourage it to return.

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