Common raven

The common raven (Corvus corax), also known as the western raven or northern raven when discussing the raven at the subspecies level, is a large all-black passerine bird. Found across the Northern Hemisphere, it is the most widely distributed of all corvids. There are at least eight subspecies with little variation in appearance, although recent research has demonstrated significant genetic differences among populations from various regions. It is one of the two largest corvids, alongside the thick-billed raven, and is possibly the heaviest passerine bird; at maturity, the common raven averages 63 centimetres (25 inches) in length and 1.2 kilograms (2.6 pounds) in mass. Although their typical lifespan is considerably shorter, common ravens can live more than 23 years in the wild,[2] which among passerines only is surpassed by a few Australian species such as the satin bowerbird[3] and probably the lyrebirds. Young birds may travel in flocks but later mate for life, with each mated pair defending a territory.

"Corvus corax" redirects here. For the German band, see Corvus Corax (band).

For the butterfly called the common raven, see Papilio castor.

Common raven
Temporal range: Middle Pleistocene–Recent
↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Corvidae
Genus: Corvus
Species:
C. corax
Binomial name
Corvus corax
Subspecies

8–11, see Classification

Common raven range

Common ravens have coexisted with humans for thousands of years and in some areas have been so numerous that people have regarded them as pests. Part of their success as a species is due to their omnivorous diet: they are extremely versatile and opportunistic in finding sources of nutrition, feeding on carrion, insects, cereal grains, berries, fruit, small animals, nesting birds, and food waste.

Some notable feats of problem-solving provide evidence that the common raven is unusually intelligent.[4] Over the centuries, it has been the subject of mythology, folklore, art, and literature. In many cultures, including the indigenous cultures of Scandinavia, ancient Ireland and Wales, Bhutan, the northwest coast of North America, and Siberia and northeast Asia, the common raven has been revered as a spiritual figure or godlike creature.[5]

Taxonomy

The common raven was one of the many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae, and it still bears its original name of Corvus corax.[6] It is the type species of the genus Corvus, derived from the Latin word for "raven".[7] The specific epithet corax is the Latinized form of the Greek word κόραξ meaning "raven" or "crow".[8]

The modern English word raven has cognates in all other Germanic languages, including Old Norse (and subsequently modern Icelandic) hrafn[9] and Old High German (h)raban,[9] all which descend from Proto-Germanic *khrabanas.[10] An old Scottish word corby or corbie, akin to the French corbeau, has been used for both this bird and the carrion crow.[11] Collective nouns for a group of ravens (or at least the common raven) include "unkindness"[12] and "conspiracy".[13]

Classification

The closest relatives of the common raven are the brown-necked raven (C. ruficollis), the pied crow (C. albus) of Africa, and the Chihuahuan raven (C. cryptoleucus) of the North American Southwest.[14] While some authorities have recognized as many as 11 subspecies,[15] others recognize only eight:[16]

Subspecies Image Distribution Notes
C. c. corax, the North Eurasian raven From Europe eastwards to Lake Baikal, south to the Caucasus region and northern Iran It has a relatively short, arched bill. The population in southwestern Europe (including the Balearic Islands, Corsica and Sardinia) has an even more arched bill and shorter wings than the "typical" nominate, leading some authorities to recognize it as a separate subspecies, the Hispanic raven (C. c. hispanus).[15]
C. c. varius, the Icelandic raven Iceland and the Faroe Islands It is less glossy than C. c. principalis or the nominate C. c. corax, is intermediate in size, and the bases of its neck feathers are whitish (not visible at a distance). An extinct white-and-black color morph found only on the Faroes was known as the pied raven (C. c. varius morpha leucophaeus; the black color morph's scientific name is C. c. varius morpha typicus).
C. c. subcorax, the South Eurasian raven From Greece eastwards to northwestern India, Central Asia and western China, though not in the Himalayan region It is larger than the nominate form, but has relatively short throat feathers (hackles). Its plumage is generally all black, though its neck and breast have a brownish tone similar to that of the brown-necked raven; this is more evident when the plumage is worn. The bases of its neck feathers, although somewhat variable in colour, are often almost whitish.

The name C. c. laurencei (also spelt lawrencii or laurencii) is sometimes used instead of C. c. subcorax.[15] It is based on the population from Sindh described by Hume in 1873[17] and is sometimes preferred, since the type specimen of subcorax collected by Nikolai Severtzov is possibly a brown-necked raven.[18]

The population restricted to the Sindh district of Pakistan and adjoining regions of northwestern India is sometimes known as the Punjab raven.[19][20]

C. c. tingitanus, the North African raven North Africa and the Canary Islands It is the smallest subspecies, with the shortest throat hackles and a distinctly oily plumage gloss. Its bill is short but markedly stout, and the culmen is strongly arched. The Canary Islands raven is browner than the North African raven, leading some authorities to treat them as separate subspecies with the latter maintaining the name C. c. tingitanus and the former known as C. c. canariensis.[15]
C. c. tibetanus, the Tibetan raven The Himalayas It is the largest and glossiest subspecies, with the longest throat hackles. Its bill is large, but less imposing than that of C. c. principalis and the bases of its neck feathers are grey.
C. c. kamtschaticus, the Kamchatkan raven Northeastern Asia Intergrades into the nominate subspecies in the Lake Baikal region. It is intermediate in size between C. c. principalis and C. c. corax and has a distinctly larger and thicker bill than the nominate subspecies does.
C. c. principalis, the northern raven Northern North America and Greenland It has a large body and the largest bill, its plumage is strongly glossed, and its throat hackles are well developed.
C. c. sinuatus, the western raven South-central North America and Central America It is smaller, with a smaller and narrower bill than C. c. principalis. Populations in the far southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico (including the Revillagigedo Islands) are the smallest in North America. They are sometimes included in C. c. sinuatus, while other authorities recognize them as a distinct subspecies, the southwestern raven (C. c. clarionensis).[15]

Evolutionary history

The common raven evolved in the Old World and crossed the Bering land bridge into North America.[21] Recent genetic studies, which examined the DNA of common ravens from across the world, have determined that the birds fall into at least two clades: a California clade, found only in the southwestern United States, and a Holarctic clade, found across the rest of the Northern Hemisphere. Birds from both clades look alike, but the groups are genetically distinct and began to diverge about two million years ago.[22][23]

The findings indicate that based on mitochondrial DNA, common ravens from the rest of the United States are more closely related to those in Europe and Asia than to those in the California clade, and that common ravens in the California clade are more closely related to the Chihuahuan raven (C. cryptoleucus) than to those in the Holarctic clade.[22] Ravens in the Holarctic clade are more closely related to the pied crow (C. albus) than they are to the California clade.[24] Thus, the common raven species as traditionally delimited is considered to be paraphyletic.[24]

One explanation for these genetic findings is that common ravens settled in California at least two million years ago and became separated from their relatives in Europe and Asia during an ice age. One million years ago, a group from the California clade evolved into a new species, the Chihuahuan raven. Other members of the Holarctic clade arrived later in a separate migration from Asia, perhaps at the same time as humans.[25]

A 2011 study suggested that there are no restrictions on gene flow between the Californian and Holarctic common raven groups, and that the lineages can remerge, effectively reversing a potential speciation.[26]

A recent study of raven mitochondrial DNA showed that the isolated population from the Canary Islands is distinct from other populations.[27] The study did not include any individuals from the North African population,[27] and its position is therefore unclear, though its morphology is very close to the population of the Canaries (to the extent that the two are often considered part of a single subspecies).[16]

Description
For physiology, see Common raven physiology.
In sunlight, the plumage can display a blue or purple sheen which is a result of iridescence.

A mature common raven ranges between 54 and 67 cm (21" and 26") long, with a wingspan of 115 to 150 cm (45–51").[28][29][30][31] Recorded weights range from 0.69 to 2 kg (1.5 to 4.4 lb),[32][33] thus making the common raven one of the heaviest passerines. Birds from colder regions such as the Himalayas and Greenland are generally larger with slightly larger bills, while those from warmer regions are smaller with proportionally smaller bills.[34] Representative of the size variation in the species, ravens from California weighed an average of 784 g (1.728 lb), those from Alaska weighed an average of 1,135 g (2.502 lb) and those from Nova Scotia weighed an average of 1,230 g (2.71 lb).[35][36][37] The bill is large and slightly curved, with a culmen length of 5.7 to 8.5 cm (2.2 to 3.3 in), easily one of the largest bills amongst passerines (perhaps only the thick-billed raven has a noticeably larger bill). It has a longish, strongly graduated tail, at 20 to 26.3 cm (7.9 to 10.4 in), and mostly black iridescent plumage, and a dark brown iris. The throat feathers are elongated and pointed and the bases of the neck feathers are pale brownish-grey. The legs and feet are good-sized, with a tarsus length of 6 to 7.2 cm (2.4 to 2.8 in).[38][39] Juvenile plumage is similar but duller with a blue-grey iris.[40]

Apart from its greater size, the common raven differs from its cousins, the crows, by having a larger and heavier black beak, shaggy feathers around the throat and above the beak, and a wedge-shaped tail.[41] Flying ravens are distinguished from crows by their tail shape, larger wing area, and more stable soaring style, which generally involves less wing flapping. Despite their bulk, ravens are easily as agile in flight as their smaller cousins. In flight the feathers produce a creaking sound that has been likened to the rustle of silk.[19] The voice of ravens is also quite distinct, its usual call being a deep croak of a much more sonorous quality than a crow's call. In North America, the Chihuahuan raven (C. cryptoleucus) is fairly similar to the relatively small common ravens of the American southwest and is best distinguished by the still relatively smaller size of its bill, beard and body and relatively longer tail. All-black carrion crow (C. corone) in Europe may suggest a raven due to their largish bill but are still distinctly smaller and have the wing and tail shapes typical of crows.[42]

In the Faroe Islands, a now-extinct white-and-black colour morph of this species existed, known as the pied raven.[43]

White ravens are occasionally found in the wild. Birds in British Columbia lack the pink eyes of an albino, and are instead leucistic, a condition where an animal lacks any of several different types of pigment, not simply melanin.[44]

Common ravens have a wide range of vocalizations which are of interest to ornithologists. Gwinner carried out important studies in the early 1960s, recording and photographing his findings in great detail.[45] Fifteen to 30 categories of vocalization have been recorded for this species, most of which are used for social interaction. Calls recorded include alarm calls, chase calls, and flight calls. The species has a distinctive, deep, resonant prruk-prruk-prruk call, which to experienced listeners is unlike that of any other corvid. Its very wide and complex vocabulary includes a high, knocking toc-toc-toc, a dry, grating kraa, a low guttural rattle and some calls of an almost musical nature.[45]

Like other corvids, the common raven can mimic sounds from their environment, including human speech. Non-vocal sounds produced by the common raven include wing whistles and bill snapping. Clapping or clicking has been observed more often in females than in males. If a member of a pair is lost, its mate reproduces the calls of its lost partner to encourage its return.[46]

Distribution and habitat
Two juveniles in Iceland

The common raven can thrive in varied climates; indeed this species has the largest range of any member of the genus,[47][48] and one of the largest of any passerine.[49] They range throughout the Holarctic from Arctic and temperate habitats in North America and Eurasia to the deserts of North Africa, and to islands in the Pacific Ocean. In the British Isles, they are more common in Scotland, Wales, northern England and the west of Ireland.[41] In Tibet, they have been recorded at altitudes up to 5,000 m (16,400 ft), and as high as 6,350 m (20,600 ft) on Mount Everest.[48][50] The population sometimes known as the Punjab raven—described as Corvus corax laurencei (also spelt lawrencii or laurencii) by Allan Octavian Hume but more often considered synonymous with subcorax[17]—is restricted to the Sindh district of Pakistan and adjoining regions of northwestern India.[19][20] They are generally resident within their range for the whole year. In his 1950 work, Grønlands Fugle [Birds of Greenland], noted ornithologist Finn Salomonsen indicated that common ravens did not overwinter in the Arctic.[51] However, in Arctic Canada and Alaska, they are found year-round.[52][53][54] Young birds may disperse locally.[55]

In the United Kingdom, the common raven's range has been increasing, though it favours mountainous or coastal terrain, but can also be found in parks with tall trees suitable for use as habitation. Its population is at its most dense in the north and west of the country, though the species is expanding its population southwards.[56]

Most common ravens prefer wooded areas with large expanses of open land nearby, or coastal regions for their nesting sites and feeding grounds. In some areas of dense human population, such as California in the United States, they take advantage of a plentiful food supply and have seen a surge in their numbers.[57] On coasts, individuals of this species are often evenly distributed and prefer to build their nest sites along sea cliffs.[58] Common ravens are often located in coastal regions because these areas provide easy access to water and a variety of food sources.[58] Also, coastal regions have stable weather patterns without extreme cold or hot temperatures.

In general, common ravens live in a wide array of environments but prefer heavily contoured landscapes. When the environment changes in vast degrees, these birds will respond with a stress response. The hormone known as corticosterone is activated by the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis.[59] Corticosterone is activated when the bird is exposed to stress, such as migrating great distances.

Behaviour
Group of ravens gathered around dead member

Common ravens usually travel in mated pairs, although young birds may form flocks. Relationships between common ravens are often quarrelsome, yet they demonstrate considerable devotion to their families.[60]

Predation

Owing to its size, gregariousness and its defensive abilities, the common raven has few natural predators. Predators of its eggs include owls, martens, and sometimes eagles. Ravens are quite vigorous at defending their young and are usually successful at driving off perceived threats. They attack potential predators by flying at them and lunging with their large bills. Humans are occasionally attacked if they get close to a raven nest, though serious injuries are unlikely. There are a few records of predation by large birds of prey. Their attackers in America have reportedly included great horned owls, northern goshawks, bald eagles, golden eagles and red-tailed hawks. It is possible that the two hawk species only attack young ravens; in one instance a peregrine falcon swooped at a newly fledged raven but was chased off by the parent ravens.[61][62][63][64]

In Eurasia, their reported predators include, in addition to golden eagles, Eurasian eagle-owls, white-tailed eagles, Steller's sea-eagles, eastern imperial eagles and gyrfalcons.[65][66][67][68][69] Because they are potentially hazardous prey for raptorial birds, raptors must usually take them by surprise and most attacks are on fledgling ravens. More rarely still, large mammalian predators such as lynxes, coyotes and cougars have also attacked ravens. This principally occurs at a nest site and when other prey for the carnivores are scarce. Ravens are highly wary around novel carrion sites and, in North America, have been recorded waiting for the presence of American crows and blue jays before approaching to eat.[70]

Breeding
Young on a nest – Hvítserkur, Iceland
Eggs of Corvus corax

Juveniles begin to court at a very early age, but may not bond for another two or three years. Aerial acrobatics, demonstrations of intelligence, and ability to provide food are key behaviours of courting. Once paired, they tend to nest together for life, usually in the same location.[60] Instances of non-monogamy have been observed in common ravens, by males visiting a female's nest when her mate is away.[71]

Breeding pairs must have a territory of their own before they begin nest-building and reproduction, and thus aggressively defend a territory and its food resources. Nesting territories vary in size according to the density of food resources in the area.[32] The nest is a deep bowl made of large sticks and twigs, bound with an inner layer of roots, mud, and bark and lined with a softer material, such as deer fur. The nest is usually placed in a large tree or on a cliff ledge, or less frequently in old buildings or utility poles.[72]

Females lay between three and seven pale bluish-green, brown-blotched eggs.[41] Incubation is about 18 to 21 days, by the female only. The male may stand or crouch over the young, sheltering but not actually brooding them.[73] Young fledge at 35 to 42 days, and are fed by both parents. They stay with their parents for another six months after fledging.[74]

In most of their range, egg-laying begins in late February. In colder climates, it is later, e.g. April in Greenland and Tibet. In Pakistan, egg-laying takes place in December.[48] Eggs and hatchlings are preyed on, rarely, by large hawks and eagles, large owls, martens and canids. The adults, which are very rarely preyed upon, are often successful in defending their young from these predators, due to their numbers, large size and cunning.[70] They have been observed dropping stones on potential predators that venture close to their nests.[75]

Common ravens can be very long-lived, especially in captive or protected conditions; individuals at the Tower of London have lived for more than 40 years.[32] Lifespans in the wild are considerably shorter at typically 10 to 15 years. The longest known lifespan of a banded wild common raven was 23 years, 3 months.[2]

Feeding
Feeding

Common ravens are omnivorous and highly opportunistic: their diet may vary widely with location, season and serendipity.[76] For example, those foraging on tundra on the Arctic North Slope of Alaska obtained about half their energy needs from predation, mainly of microtine rodents, and half by scavenging, mainly of caribou and ptarmigan carcasses.[77]

In some places they are mainly scavengers, feeding on carrion as well as the associated maggots and carrion beetles. With large-bodied carrion, which they are not equipped to tear through as well as birds such as hook-billed vultures, they must wait for the prey to be torn open by another predator or flayed by other means.[78] Plant food includes cereal grains, berries and fruit. They prey on small invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals and birds.[79] Ravens may also consume the undigested portions of animal feces, and human food waste. They store surplus food items, especially those containing fat, and will learn to hide such food out of the sight of other common ravens.[55] Ravens also raid the food caches of other species, such as the Arctic fox.[80] They sometimes associate with another canine, the grey wolf, as a kleptoparasite, following to scavenge wolf-kills in winter.[81] Ravens are regular predators at bird nests, brazenly picking off eggs, nestlings and sometimes adult birds when they spot an opportunity. They are considered perhaps the primary natural threat to the nesting success of the critically endangered California condor, since they readily take condor eggs and are very common in the areas where the species is being re-introduced. On the other hand, when they defend their own adjacent nests, they may incidentally benefit condors since they chase golden eagles out of the area that may otherwise prey upon larger nestling and fledging condors. Condors, despite their large size, do not seem to have well developed nest defenses.[82]

Flock feeding at a garbage dump

Common ravens nesting near sources of human garbage included a higher percentage of food waste in their diet, birds nesting near roads consumed more road-killed vertebrates, and those nesting far from these sources of food ate more arthropods and plant material. Fledging success was higher for those using human garbage as a food source.[83] In contrast, a 1984–1986 study of common raven diet in an agricultural region of southwestern Idaho found that cereal grains were the principal constituent of pellets, though small mammals, grasshoppers, cattle carrion and birds were also eaten.[84]

One behaviour is recruitment, where juvenile ravens call other ravens to a food bonanza, usually a carcass, with a series of loud yells. In Ravens in Winter, Bernd Heinrich posited that this behaviour evolved to allow the juveniles to outnumber the resident adults, thus allowing them to feed on the carcass without being chased away.[85] A more mundane explanation is that individuals co-operate in sharing information about carcasses of large mammals because they are too big for just a few birds to exploit.[71] Experiments with baits however show that such recruitment behaviour is independent of the size of the bait.[86]

Furthermore, there has been research suggesting that the common raven is involved in seed dispersal. In the wild, the common raven chooses the best habitat and disperses seeds in locations best suited for its survival.[58]

Intelligence
See also: Bird intelligence and Corvidae § Intelligence

Crows, ravens, magpies, and jays are not just feathered machines, rigidly programmed by their genetics. Instead, they are beings that, within the constraints of their molecular inheritance, make complex decisions and show every sign of enjoying a rich awareness.

— Candace Savage[87]

The brain of the common raven is among the largest of any bird species. Specifically, their hyperpallium is large for a bird. They display ability in problem-solving, as well as other cognitive processes such as imitation and insight.[87]

Dilapidated NIKE Missile radar dome in Alaska with an evening roost

Linguist Derek Bickerton, building on the work of biologist Bernd Heinrich, has argued that ravens are one of only four known animals (the others being bees, ants, and humans) who have demonstrated displacement, the capacity to communicate about objects or events that are distant in space or time from the communication. Subadult ravens roost together at night, but usually forage alone during the day. However, when one discovers a large carcass guarded by a pair of adult ravens, the unmated raven will return to the roost and communicate the find. The following day, a flock of unmated ravens will fly to the carcass and chase off the adults. Bickerton argues that the advent of linguistic displacement was perhaps the most important event in the evolution of human language, and that ravens are the only other vertebrate to share this with humans.[88]

One experiment designed to evaluate insight and problem-solving ability involved a piece of meat attached to a string hanging from a perch. To reach the food, the bird needed to stand on the perch, pull the string up a little at a time, and step on the loops to gradually shorten the string. Four of five common ravens eventually succeeded, and "the transition from no success (ignoring the food or merely yanking at the string) to constant reliable access (pulling up the meat) occurred with no demonstrable trial-and-error learning." This supports the hypothesis that common ravens are 'inventors', implying that they can solve problems. Many of the feats of common ravens were formerly argued to be stereotyped innate behaviour, but it now has been established that their aptitudes for solving problems individually and learning from each other reflect a flexible capacity for intelligent insight unusual among non-human animals.[89] Another experiment showed that some common ravens could intentionally deceive their conspecifics.[90]

Common ravens have been observed calling wolves to the site of dead animals. The wolves open the carcass, leaving the scraps more accessible to the birds.[87] They watch where other common ravens bury their food and remember the locations of each other's food caches, so they can steal from them. This type of theft occurs so regularly that common ravens will fly extra distances from a food source to find better hiding places for food.[91] They have also been observed pretending to make a cache without actually depositing the food, presumably to confuse onlookers.[92]

Common ravens are known to steal and cache shiny objects such as pebbles, pieces of metal, and golf balls. One theory is that they hoard shiny objects to impress other ravens.[93] Other research indicates that juveniles are deeply curious about all new things, and that common ravens retain an attraction to bright, round objects based on their similarity to bird eggs. Mature birds lose their intense interest in the unusual, and become highly neophobic.[94]

Play

There has been increasing recognition of the extent to which birds engage in play. Juvenile common ravens are among the most playful of bird species. They have been observed to slide down snowbanks, apparently purely for fun. They even engage in games with other species, such as playing catch-me-if-you-can with wolves, otters and dogs.[95] Common ravens are known for spectacular aerobatic displays, such as flying in loops or interlocking talons with each other in flight.[96][97]

They are also one of only a few wild animals who make their own toys. They have been observed breaking off twigs to play with socially.[98]

Relationship with humans

Conservation and management

Compared to many smaller Corvus species (such as American crow), ravens prefer undisturbed mountain or forest habitat or rural areas over urban areas.[99] In other areas, their numbers have increased dramatically and they have become agricultural pests. Common ravens can cause damage to crops, such as nuts and grain, or can harm livestock, particularly by killing young goat kids, lambs and calves.[100] Ravens generally attack the faces of young livestock, but the more common raven behaviour of scavenging may be misidentified as predation by ranchers.[101]

In the western Mojave Desert, human settlement and land development have led to an estimated 16-fold increase in the common raven population over 25 years. Towns, landfills, sewage treatment plants and artificial ponds create sources of food and water for scavenging birds. Ravens also find nesting sites in utility poles and ornamental trees, and are attracted to roadkill on highways. The explosion in the common raven population in the Mojave has raised concerns for the desert tortoise, a threatened species. Common ravens prey upon juvenile tortoises, which have soft shells and move slowly.[57] Plans to control the population have included shooting and trapping birds, as well as contacting landfill operators to ask that they reduce the amount of exposed garbage.[102] A hunting bounty as a method of control was historically used in Finland from the mid-18th century until 1923.[103] Culling has taken place to a limited extent in Alaska, where the population increase in common ravens is threatening the vulnerable Steller's eider (Polysticta stelleri).[104]

Ravens, like other corvids, are definitive hosts of West Nile Virus (WNV).[105] The transmission can be from infected birds to humans, and ravens are susceptible to WNV. However, in a 2010 study, it was shown that the California Common Ravens did not have a high positivity rate of WNV.[106]

Cultural depictions
Bill Reid's sculpture The Raven and the First Men, showing part of a Haida creation myth. Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia.
See also: Cultural depictions of ravens

Across its range in the Northern Hemisphere, and throughout human history, the common raven has been a powerful symbol and a popular subject of mythology and folklore.

In some Western traditions, ravens have long been considered to be birds of ill omen, death and evil in general, in part because of the negative symbolism of their all-black plumage and the eating of carrion.[107] In Sweden, ravens are known as the ghosts of murdered people, and in Germany as the souls of the damned. In Danish folklore, valravne that ate a king's heart gained human knowledge, could perform great malicious acts, could lead people astray, had superhuman powers, and were "terrible animals".[108]

As in traditional mythology and folklore, the common raven features frequently in more modern writings such as the works of William Shakespeare, and, perhaps most famously, in the poem "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe. Ravens have appeared in the works of Charles Dickens,[109] J. R. R. Tolkien,[110] Stephen King,[111] George R. R. Martin[112] and Joan Aiken[113][114][115][116] among others.

It continues to be used as a symbol in areas where it once had mythological status: as the national bird of Bhutan[117] (Kings of Bhutan wear the Raven Crown), official bird of the Yukon territory,[118] and on the coat of arms of the Isle of Man (once a Viking colony).[119]

In Persia and Arabia the raven was held as a bird of bad omen but a 14th-century Arabic work reports use of the raven in falconry.[120]

The modern unisex given name Raven is derived from the English word "raven". As a masculine name, Raven parallels the Old Norse Hrafn,[121] and Old English *Hræfn, which were both bynames and personal names.[122]

Mythology
Main article: Raven in mythology
A valkyrie speaks with a raven in a 19th-century illustration of the Old Norse poem Hrafnsmál ("raven song") by Frederick Sandys

In Tlingit and Haida cultures, Raven was both a trickster and creator god. Related beliefs are widespread among the peoples of Siberia and northeastern Asia.[123] The Kamchatka Peninsula, for example, was supposed to have been created by the raven god Kutkh.[124] There are several references to common ravens in the Old Testament of the Bible and it is an aspect of Mahakala in Bhutanese mythology.[117]

In Norse mythology, Huginn (from the Old Norse for "thought") and Muninn (from the Old Norse for "memory" or "mind") are a pair of ravens that fly all over the world of humans, Midgard, and bring the god Odin information. Additionally among the Norse, raven banner standards were carried by such figures as the Jarls of Orkney,[125] King Cnut the Great of England, Norway and Denmark,[126] and Harald Hardrada.[127] In the British Isles, ravens also were symbolic to the Celts. In Irish mythology, the goddess Morrígan alighted on the hero Cú Chulainn's shoulder in the form of a raven after his death.[128] In Welsh mythology they were associated with the Welsh god Bran the Blessed, whose name translates to "raven." According to the Mabinogion, Bran's head was buried in the White Hill of London as a talisman against invasion.[129]

A legend developed that England would not fall to a foreign invader as long as there were ravens at the Tower of London; although this is often thought to be an ancient belief, the official Tower of London historian, Geoff Parnell, believes that this is actually a romantic Victorian invention.[130]

In the Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions, the raven was the first animal to be released from Noah's Ark. "So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth. He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground."[131] The raven is mentioned 12 times in the Bible. In the New Testament Jesus tells a parable using the raven to show how people should rely on God for their needs and not riches (Luke 12:24).[132] The raven is also mentioned in the Quran at the story of Cain and Abel. Adam's firstborn son Cain kills his brother Abel, but he does not know what to do with the corpse: "Then Allah sent a raven scratching up the ground, to show him how to hide his brother's naked corpse. He said: Woe unto me! Am I not able to be as this raven and so hide my brother's naked corpse? And he became repentant."[133]

References
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Corvus corax". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. "European Longevity Records". European Union for Bird Ringing. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
  3. Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme Satin Bowerbird
  4. "Los cuervos pueden ser tan inteligentes como un niño de tres años". 2016-04-26.
  5. Jones, Noragh (1995). Power of Raven, Wisdom of Serpent. Floris Books. ISBN 978-0-940262-66-9.
  6. Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata (in Latin). Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii). p. 105. C. ater, dorso caerulescente, cauda subrotundata.
  7. Simpson, D. P. (1979). Cassell's Latin Dictionary (5th ed.). London: Cassell Ltd. p. 155. ISBN 978-0-304-52257-6.
  8. κόραξ. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
  9. "Raven". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  10. "Raven". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 2007-05-14.
  11. Goodwin, p. 144
  12. "Baltimore Bird Club. Group Name for Birds: A Partial List". Retrieved 2007-06-03.
  13. "University of California Golf Club. List of Collective Nouns". Archived from the original on 2010-02-13. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
  14. Goodwin, pp. 70–72
  15. Marzluff, J. M. (2009). "Common Raven (Corvus corax)". pp. 638–639 in Handbook of the Birds of the World. Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. and Christie, D. A. (eds.). Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 978-84-96553-50-7
  16. Clements, J. F. (2007). The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World. 6th edition. Christopher Helm. ISBN 978-0-7136-8695-1
  17. Rasmussen, PC; Anderton, JC (2005). Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Volume 2. Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions. pp. 600–601.
  18. Dickinson, E.C.; Dekker, R.W.R.J.; Eck, S.; Somadikarta, S. (2004). "Systematic notes on Asian birds. 45. Types of the Corvidae". Zool. Verh. Leiden. 350: 111–148.
  19. Ali, S; S D Ripley (1986). Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. 5 (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 261–265.
  20. Eates, KR (1939). "The distribution and nidification of the Indian (Punjab) Raven (Corvus corax laurencei Hume) in Sind". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 40 (4): 747–750.
  21. Marzluff and Angell, p. 86
  22. US Geological Survey. "California Ravens Are a Breed Apart". Retrieved 2007-05-11.
  23. Omland KE; Tarr CL; Boarman WI; Marzluff JM; Fleischer RC (2000). "Cryptic genetic variation and paraphyly in ravens". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 267 (1461): 2475–2482. doi:10.1098/rspb.2000.1308. PMC 1690844. PMID 11197122.
  24. Feldman, Christopher R.; Omland, Kevin E. (March 2005). "Phylogenetics of the common raven complex (Corvus: Corvidae) and the utility of ND4, COI and intron 7 of the β-fibrinogen gene in avian molecular systematics". Zoologica Scripta. 34 (2): 145–156. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2005.00182.x. S2CID 85196387.
  25. Marzluff and Angell, pp. 86–87
  26. Webb, William C.; Marzluff, John M.; Omland, Kevin E. (2011). "Random interbreeding between cryptic lineages of the Common Raven: evidence for speciation in reverse". Molecular Ecology. 20 (11): 2390–2402. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2011.05095.x. PMID 21518060. S2CID 7684306.
  27. Baker, Jason M.; Omland, Kevin E. (January 2006). "Canary Island Ravens Corvus corax tingitanus have distinct mtDNA". Ibis. 148 (1): 174–178. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.2006.00493.x.
  28. Svensson, Lars; Mullarney, Killian; Zetterström, Dan (2015). Le guide ornitho: le guide le plus complet des oiseaux d'Europe, d'Afrique du Nord et du Moyen-Orient [The birding guide: The most comprehensive guide of birds from Europe, North Africa and the Middle East]. French: Éditions Delachaux et Niestlé.
  29. Common Raven. Nature.ca. Retrieved on 2012-12-19.
  30. Raven. Garden-birds.co.uk (2010-07-01). Retrieved on 2012-12-19.
  31. Common Raven. Geobirds.com. Retrieved on 2012-12-19.
  32. Boarman, William I.; Heinrich, Bernd (1999). Poole, A.; Gill, F. (eds.). "Common Raven (Corvus corax)". Birds of North America. 476: 1–32. doi:10.2173/bna.476.
  33. Common Raven. Oiseaux-birds.com. Retrieved on 2012-12-19.
  34. Goodwin, pp. 138–139
  35. Elliot, R. D. (1977). "Hanging behavior in Common Ravens". Auk. 94 (4): 777–778. doi:10.2307/4085278. JSTOR 4085278.
  36. Schwan, M. W.; Williams, D. D. (1978). "Temperature regulation in the common raven of interior Alaska". Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A. 60: 31–36. doi:10.1016/0300-9629(78)90033-6.
  37. Linz, G. M., Knittle, C. E. and Johnson, R. E. (1990). Ecology of corvids in the vicinity of the Aliso Creek California Least Tern colony, Camp Pendelton, California. U.S. Dept. of Agric., North Dakota Field Stn. North Dakota State Univ., Fargo.
  38. Oberholser, Harry C. (1918). "The Common Ravens of North America". The Ohio Journal of Science. 18 (6): 213–225. hdl:1811/1993.
  39. Anonymous. (2013) "Corvus corax – Linnaeus, 1758 (Common Raven)" in Deomurari, A.N. (Compiler), 2010. AVIS-IBIS (Avian Information System – Indian BioDiversity Information System) v. 1.0. Foundation For Ecological Security, India
  40. Goodwin, p. 138
  41. Vere Benson, S. (1972). The Observer's Book of Birds. London: Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7232-1513-4.
  42. Boarman, William I. and Heinrich, Bernd (1999) Common Raven (Corvus corax), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
  43. Droste, Ferdinand Baron von (1869). "Vogelfauna der Färöer (Färöernes Fuglefauna af Sysselmaand Müller 1862.) Aus dem Dänischen übersetzt und mit Anmerkungen versehen. Teil 1". Journal of Ornithology (in German). 17 (2): 107–118. doi:10.1007/BF02261546. S2CID 43875817.
  44. Dearing, Stephanie (5 July 2010). "Another rare white raven born this year on Canadian beach". Digital Journal. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  45. Gwinner, E. (1964). "Untersuchungen über das ausdrucks und Sozialverhalten des Kolkraben (Corvus corax L.)". Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie (in German). 21 (6): 657–748. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1964.tb01212.x.
  46. Goodwin, p. 142
  47. Goodwin, p. 70
  48. Madge, Steve (1999) [1994]. Crows and jays : a guide to the crows, jays and magpies of the world. Helm Identification Guides. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 978-0-7136-3999-5.
  49. "Common Raven". Audubon Society of Portland. 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  50. Hingston, R W G (1927). "Bird notes from the Mount Everest expedition of 1924". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 32 (2): 320–329.
  51. Salomonsen, Finn (1950). Grønlands Fugle [Birds of Greenland]. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
  52. "Common raven (Corvus corax)". The National Bird Project. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  53. Temple, Stanley. "Winter Food Habits of Ravens on the Arctic Slope of Alaska" (PDF). Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  54. "Tulugaq – Raven". Canada's Arctic. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  55. Goodwin, p. 139
  56. "Raven | Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust". www.hiwwt.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  57. U.S. Geological Survey. "Scientists Estimate Risk of Raven Predation on Desert Tortoises in the Western Mojave Desert". Retrieved 2007-05-11.
  58. Ewins, P. J.; Dymond, J. N.; Marquiss, M. (1986). "The distribution, breeding and diet of Ravens Corvus corax in Shetland". Bird Study. 33 (2): 110–116. doi:10.1080/00063658609476906.
  59. Cockrem, J. F. (2007). "Stress, corticosterone responses and avian personalities". Journal of Ornithology. 148: 169–178. doi:10.1007/s10336-007-0175-8. S2CID 9578614.
  60. "Oregon Zoo Animals: Common Raven". Oregon Zoo. Archived from the original on April 29, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-19.
  61. Boal, C. W. (1993). Northern goshawk diets in ponderosa pine forests in northern Arizona (Masters of Science Thesis). University of Arizona.
  62. Murie, O. J. (1940). "Food habits of the northern Bald Eagle in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska". Condor. 42 (4): 198–202. doi:10.2307/1363948. JSTOR 1363948.
  63. Olendorff, R. R. (1976). "The food habits of North American golden eagles". American Midland Naturalist. 95 (1): 231–236. doi:10.2307/2424254. JSTOR 2424254.
  64. Young, L. S.; Engel, K. A. (1988). Implications of communal roosting by Common Ravens to operation and maintenance of Pacific Power and Light Company's Malin to Midpoint 500 kV transmission line. Boise, ID: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Land Manage.
  65. Malafosse, J. (1985). "Quelques données sur le Hibou grand-duc (Bubo bubo) dans le département de la Lozère de 1978 à 1984" (PDF). Le Grand-Duc. 26: 26–32.
  66. Wille, F. & Kampp, K. (1983). "Food of the white-tailed eagle Haliaeetus albicilla in Greenland". Ecography. 6 (1): 81–88. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0587.1983.tb01068.x.
  67. Utekhina, I.; Potapov, E. & McGrady, M. J. (2000). "Diet of the Steller's Sea Eagle in the northern Sea of Okhotsk". First Symposium on Steller's and White-tailed Sea Eagles in East Asia. Tokyo, Japan: Wild Bird Society of Japan. pp. 71–92.
  68. Chavko, J.; Danko, Š.; Obuch, J. & Mihók, J. (2007). "The food of the Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca) in Slovakia". Slovak Raptor Journal. 1: 1–18. doi:10.2478/v10262-012-0001-y. S2CID 85142585.
  69. Jenkins, M. A. (1978). "Gyrfalcon nesting behavior from hatching to fledging". Auk. 95 (1): 122–127. doi:10.2307/4085502. JSTOR 4085502.
  70. Berg R, Dewey T (1999). "Corvus corax". Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  71. Heinrich, B. (1999). Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds pp. 119–120. New York: Cliff Street Books. ISBN 978-0-06-093063-9
  72. Savage, p. 35
  73. Gwinner, Eberhard (April 1965). "Beobachtungen über Nestbau und Brutpflege des Kolkraben (Corvus corax L.) in Gefangenschaft". Journal of Ornithology (in German). 106 (2): 145–178. doi:10.1007/BF01793758. S2CID 22796437.
  74. Goodwin, p. 141
  75. Janes, Stewart W. (1976). "The apparent use of rocks by a raven in nest defense" (PDF). Condor. 78 (3): 409. doi:10.2307/1367704. JSTOR 1367704. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
  76. Nogales, Manuel; Hernández, Elizabeth C. (1997). "Diet of Common Ravens on El Hierro, Canary Islands" (PDF). Journal of Field Ornithology. 68 (3): 382–391. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
  77. Temple, Stanley A. (March 1974). "Winter food habits of Ravens on the Arctic Slope of Alaska" (PDF). Arctic. 27 (1): 41–46. doi:10.14430/arctic2851. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  78. Nelson, A.L. (January 1934). "Some early summer food preferences of the American Raven in southeastern Oregon" (PDF). Condor. 36 (1): 10–15. doi:10.2307/1363515. JSTOR 1363515. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
  79. Gaston, A.J.; Elliot, R.D. (1996). "Predation by Ravens Corvus corax on Brunnich's Guillemot Uria lomvia eggs and chicks and its possible impact on breeding site selection". Ibis. 138 (4): 742–748. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1996.tb08831.x.
  80. Careau, Vincent; Lecomte, Nicolas; Giroux, Jean-François; Berteaux, Dominique (January 2007). "Common ravens raid arctic fox food caches". Journal of Ethology. 25 (1): 79–82. doi:10.1007/s10164-006-0193-7. S2CID 23425485.
  81. Stahler, Daniel; Heinrich, Bernd; Smith, Douglas (August 2002). "Common ravens, Corvus corax, preferentially associate with grey wolves, Canis lupus, as a foraging strategy in winter". Animal Behaviour. 64 (2): 283–290. doi:10.1006/anbe.2002.3047. S2CID 53176223.
  82. Snyder, Noel F. R.; Ramey, Rob R.; Sibley, Fred C (1986). "Nest-site Biology of the California Condor" (PDF). The Condor. 88 (2): 228–241. doi:10.2307/1368920. JSTOR 1368920.
  83. Kristan, William B.; Boarman, William I.; Crayon, John J. (March 2004). "Diet composition of common ravens across the urban-wildland interface of the West Mojave Desert" (PDF). Wildlife Society Bulletin. 32 (1): 244–253. doi:10.2193/0091-7648(2004)32[244:DCOCRA]2.0.CO;2.
  84. Engel, Kathleen A.; Young, Leonard S. (May 1989). "Spatial and temporal patterns in the diet of Common Ravens in southwestern Idaho" (PDF). Condor. 91 (2): 372–378. doi:10.2307/1368316. JSTOR 1368316. Retrieved 2005-05-16.
  85. Heinrich, Bernd (1989). Ravens in Winter. New York: Summit Books. ISBN 978-0-671-67809-8.
  86. Heinrich, Bernd (1988). "Winter foraging at carcasses by three sympatric corvids, with emphasis on recruitment by the raven, Corvus corax". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 23 (3): 141–156. doi:10.1007/BF00300349. S2CID 10471307.
  87. "PBS Nature: The Bird in Black". PBS. Archived from the original on July 17, 2008. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
  88. Bickerton, Derek (2009). Adam's Tongue. Hill and Wang. ISBN 978-0-8090-2281-6
  89. Heinrich, Bernd (1995). "An Experimental Investigation of Insight in Common Ravens (Corvus corax)" (PDF). The Auk. 112 (4): 994–1003. doi:10.2307/4089030. JSTOR 4089030. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
  90. Bugnyar, Thomas; Kotrschal, Kurt (2004). "Leading a conspecific away from food in ravens (Corvus corax)?" (PDF). Animal Cognition. 7 (2): 69–76. doi:10.1007/s10071-003-0189-4. PMID 15069605. S2CID 6590368. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-28.
  91. Rozell, Ned. "The Raven's Game of Hide and Seek". Alaska Science Forum. Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Archived from the original on 2007-06-11. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
  92. Marzluff and Angell, p. 230
  93. Marzluff and Angell, p. 232
  94. Kijne, M.; Kotrschal, K (2002). "Neophobia affects choice of food-item size in group-foraging common ravens (Corvus corax)". Acta Ethologica. 5 (1): 13–18. doi:10.1007/s10211-002-0061-6. S2CID 39984855.
  95. Savage, pp. 70–71
  96. Savage, p. 76
  97. Heinrich, B. (1999). Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds p. 290. New York: Cliff Street Books. ISBN 978-0-06-093063-9
  98. Heinrich, B. (1999). Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds p. 282. New York: Cliff Street Books. ISBN 978-0-06-093063-9
  99. Kelly, J. P.; Etienne, K. L. & Roth, J. E. (2002). "Abundance and distribution of the common raven and American Crow in the San Francisco Bay area, California" (PDF). Western Birds. 33: 202–217.
  100. Larsen, Kenneth H.; Dietrich, John H. (January 1970). "Reduction of a raven population on lambing grounds with DRC-1339". Journal of Wildlife Management. 34 (1): 200–204. doi:10.2307/3799509. JSTOR 3799509.
  101. Sheep and Goats Death Loss. National Agricultural Statistics Service. May 6, 2005. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
  102. Boarman, WI (1993). The Raven Management Program of the Bureau of Land Management : Status as of 1992 (PDF). Proceedings of 1992 Symposium. California. pp. 113–117. Retrieved 2007-05-21.
  103. Pohja-Mykrä M; Vuorisalo T; Mykrä S (2005). "Hunting bounties as a key measure of historical wildlife management and game conservation: Finnish bounty schemes 1647–1975". Oryx. 39 (3): 284–291. doi:10.1017/S0030605305000785.
  104. Minerals Management Service, Alaska (2007). "Foraging Ecology of Common Ravens (Corvus corax) on Alaska's Coastal Plain (AK-93-48-51)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 28, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
  105. Lavelle, Michael J.; Kay, Shannon L.; Pepin, Kim M.; Grear, Daniel A.; Campa, Henry; VerCauteren, Kurt C. (2016-12-01). "Evaluating wildlife-cattle contact rates to improve the understanding of dynamics of bovine tuberculosis transmission in Michigan, USA". Preventive Veterinary Medicine. 135: 28–36. doi:10.1016/j.prevetmed.2016.10.009. ISSN 0167-5877. PMID 27931926.
  106. Wheeler, Sarah S.; Barker, Christopher M.; Fang, Ying; Armijos, M. Veronica; Carroll, Brian D.; Husted, Stan; Johnson, Wesley O.; Reisen, William K. (2009). "Differential Impact of West Nile Virus on California Birds". The Condor. 111 (1): 1–20. doi:10.1525/cond.2009.080013. ISSN 0010-5422. PMC 2892874. PMID 20589226.
  107. Schwan, Mark (January 1990). "Raven: The Northern Bird of Paradox". Alaska Fish and Game. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
  108. Kristensen, Evald Tang. (1980) Danske Sagn: Som De Har Lyd I Folkemunde, Nyt Nordisk Forlag Arnold Busck, Copenhagen. ISBN 87-17-02791-8. p. 132.
  109. Dickens, Charles (1841) Barnaby Rudge online
  110. Tolkien, J. R. R. (1985). The Hobbit. Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-33207-3.
  111. King, Stephen (1976). The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. ISBN 0-8488-0780-4
  112. Martin, George (1996). A Song of Ice and Fire.
  113. Aiken, Joan (1974). Tales of Arabel's Raven. Cape. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-224-01059-7.
  114. Aiken, Joan (1980). Arabel and Mortimer. Cape. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-224-01765-7.
  115. Aiken, Joan (1983). Mortimer's Cross. Cape. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-224-02108-1.
  116. Aiken, Joan (1985). Mortimer Says Nothing and other stories. Cape. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-224-02335-1.
  117. Bhutan Tourism Corporation. "The Himalaya Kingdom". Archived from the original on 2007-04-29. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
  118. "Yukon Territorial Bird". Government of Yukon. Archived from the original on February 12, 2012. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
  119. Isle of Man Government. "Island Facts – Isle of Man Government". Archived from the original on 2007-05-10. Retrieved 2007-05-19.
  120. Phillott, D.C. (1907). "Note on the common raven-Corvus corax". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 3: 115–116.
  121. Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 226. ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1.
  122. Reaney, Percy Hilde; Wilson, Richard Middlewood (2006). A Dictionary of English Surnames (3rd ed.). London: Routledge. p. 2594. ISBN 978-0-203-99355-2.
  123. Bogoras, W. (1902). "The Folklore of Northeastern Asia, as Compared with That of Northwestern America". American Anthropologist. 4 (4): 577–683. doi:10.1525/aa.1902.4.4.02a00020.
  124. Worth, D.D. (1961). Kamchadal Texts Collected by W. Jochelson, 's-Gravenhage, Mouton.
  125. Pálsson, Hermann; Edwards, Paul (1978). Orkneyinga Saga: The History of the Earls of Orkney. London: Hogarth Press. ISBN 978-0-7012-0431-0.
  126. Campbell, Alistair; Keynes, Simon (1998). Encomium Emmae Reginae. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-62655-2.
  127. Sturluson, Snorri (2005). King Harald's Saga: Harald Hardradi of Norway: From Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-044183-3.
  128. Jones, M. "The Death of Cu Chulainn". Academy for Ancient Texts. Retrieved 2007-05-19.
  129. Ford, Patrick K. (1977). "Branwen daughter of Llŷr". The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-03414-3.
  130. Kennedy, Maev (15 November 2004). "Tower's raven mythology may be a Victorian flight of fantasy". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 December 2008.
  131. Genesis 8:6–8 (New King James Version). biblegateway.com
  132. Luke 12:24 (New Living Translation). Biblegateway.com. Retrieved on 2012-12-19.
  133. (بَعَثَ اللّهُ غُرَابًا يَبْحَثُ فِي الأَرْضِ لِيُرِيَهُ كَيْفَ يُوَارِي سَوْءةَ أَخِيهِ قَالَ يَا وَيْلَتَا أَعَجَزْتُ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِثْلَ هَذَا الْغُرَابِ فَأُوَارِيَ سَوْءةَ أَخِي فَأَصْبَحَ مِنَ النَّادِمِينَ) Qur'an 5:31, translation: Pickthall, Marmaduke The Meaning of the Glorious Koran: An Explanatory Translation, Amana Publications, 1st edition (1996) ISBN 978-0915957224

Cited texts
  • Goodwin D. (1983). Crows of the World. Queensland University Press, St Lucia, Qld. ISBN 978-0-7022-1015-0.
  • Marzluff, John M.; Angell, Tony (2005). In the Company of Crows and Ravens. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10076-1.
  • Savage, Candace (1995). Bird Brains: The Intelligence of Crows, Ravens, Magpies and Jays. Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre. ISBN 978-1-55054-189-2.

Further reading
  • Heinrich, B. (1999). Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds. New York: Cliff Street Books. ISBN 978-0-06-093063-9

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.