The Common Raven is our largest songbird, and it has a voice to match its size. We've visited ravens in the company of wolves and — in myth — taking control of the tides, changing the course of a river, even placing the sun in the sky.
Ravens are seen as tricksters in many traditions. But ravens have their softer side, too. Common Ravens probably mate for life. Throughout the year, a pair of ravens may soar wingtip to wingtip, swooping in unison, tumbling through the sky. And during that ritual, they may make these warbling sounds. Compared to the usual raucous raven calls, this one is soothing, to adults and to their young. It does sound like some sort of percussion instrument.
The raven below, spotted on Mount Washington, is making a slightly different call, more of a hollow wooden sound. This last video is a couple of years old, taken near the ski hill parking lot at Cypress Mountain. This is one of my favourite snippets of raven film.
I took it from a distance with a lot of car park noise in the background and, as usual, no tripod. But I watch it quite often and it always makes me smile. It reminds me of a scene from a Jane Austen novel.
The raven couples are doing the rounds at the ball. Social rituals are observed, silent judgements are made, gossip and meaningful looks are exchanged. Meanwhile, at the top of the frame, one young single raven, oblivious to the formalities, plays in the snow. Save Save. Thank you for this most wonderful post! It finally worked! Thank you for the wonderful pictures of those amazing birds. I absolutely love them!
I loved this post. I absolutely loved your Blog this week! Sometimes their regular call get a bit of shrill emphasis which I think sounds like a middle aged matron getting goosed! I could watch these all day June, thank you!
We have crows but no ravens around here so it is a real treat to see these videos. I would love one of those dictionaries too! I remember when I was about 12 years old drawing pictures of crows and documenting the position of their head and body as they made each different sound. That was about 45 years ago, I wish I still had those pictures!
Oh — that would be wonderful to see for sure. Displaying males and females will loudly snap their beaks. Scientists have placed raven vocalizations into as many as 33 different categories based on sound and context. Ravens can mimic other birds, and when raised in captivity can even be taught words.
Watch the video below from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. In it, the calls of American crows are compared with those made by common ravens. To download a crow identification packet with sound files, click here.
Twitter - Facebook. I was pretty amazed when I first heard them. Click here to cancel reply. All rights reserved.
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