The Common Raven is the largest song bird of North America. It has often been the subject of works of fiction and mythology. This large, intelligent bird is a very acrobatic and quick flyer, performing aerial maneuvers such as steep dives and rolls. It may gather into loose flocks and congregate for roosting at night or near a large food supply. It will cache surplus food in between rocks or crevices, or hide it under leaves, twigs or other debris.

Length: 53.3 - 61 cm (21 - 24 inches)

Physical characteristics: An entirely black bird, with a long bill and a long wedge-shaped tail. The throat feathers have a rather shaggy appearance. This species is similar in appearance to the American Crow, but is larger and has a thicker bill.

Voice: Call is commonly a hoarse and deep croaking, kraawk. Under certain circumstances, the raven makes a variety of rattles and other calls, including one that sounds something like "bloo-ook!"

Breeding habitat: the Common Raven can be found in a large variety of habitats, but is often found in woody mountainous regions with cliffs or ledges. Ravens often nest on the same cliffs as Peregrine Falcons and have been known to battle to the death over use of a given cliff face. Either may kill and eat the young of the other and either may nest on the old site of the other.

Mating system: monogamous, a pair usually remains together for the year, some possibly for life; one brood is produced per season. In the Southern Appalachians, ravens typically breed from March through May. A smaller, second clutch may be laid in the same nest if the first fails for some reason.

Nest: all nest records from Tennessee and North Carolina have been on rock ledges and cliffs, though they probably also nest in large conifers. In other locations, nests have been found in deciduous trees or a man-made structure. It is a large and bulky cup shape, from 2 - 4 feet (.6 - 1.2 m) in diameter. Both the male and female build it with twigs and branches and line it with moss, grass and fur. A pair may reuse a nest year after year. Click here to see a photo of nestlings.

Eggs: a clutch is made up of 4 - 6 greenish eggs that are spotted with browns. 50mm (2.0'').

Chick development: the female alone incubates the eggs for 18 - 21 days; during this time the male feeds her. The chicks are born altricial. Both parents care for the young. The chicks fledge 38 - 44 days after hatching. Fledglings may remain with their parents for six months. Small to large juvenile flocks form in the fall and can be seen flying through the Southern Appalachians in winter. One flock with more than 100 ravens was reported in the Tennessee/North Carolina mountains.

Diet: the Common Raven is an omnivore, whose diet is made up of carrion, small vertebrates, bird eggs and nestlings, insects and other invertebrates, seeds, fruits and garbage. It finds and eats most of its food on the ground, and will drop shelled creatures or nuts on a hard surface to break the shell.

Conservation Biology:
Long considered a pest, the Common Raven was trapped in the past, and disappeared in many areas along with the forests. But today, the numbers are increasing, particularly in the northeastern and western United States.

Special Protection Status
Rangewide: Globally and nationally, it is not considered endangered or threatened.

Region: The Common Raven is considered threatened by the state of Tennessee (2003) and is on the North Carolina Watch List as a "species rare to uncommon, but probably not in trouble" (2002).

Breeding: The Common Raven breeds from northwestern Alaska, through most of southern Canada, south to northern Georgia in the East, to northern Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and the western states, and south through Mexico to Nicaragua.

Winter: This species is mostly a yearlong resident, although those birds breeding in higher elevations may move to lower elevations in the winter.

The Common Raven is a common breeding bird species in the Park at high elevations. This species is more likely to be observed in the middle or eastern side of the park than on the western third of the park. A survey of breeding birds in the park, performed from 1996-1999, ranked Common Raven as the 50th most abundant species out of 113 species observed during the breeding season. Estimates from this survey indicate that overall Common Raven density in the park during the breeding season is approximately 0.0023 pairs/ hectare.

References:

Alsop, F. J. III. 1991. Birds Of The Smokies. Great Smoky Mountains History Association, Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Campbell, C. C. 1936. Raven's nest; a true story of real adventure in the Great Smokies. American Forests 42: 485.

Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists' Union. 2000. Forty-second supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 117: 847-858.

Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists' Union. 2002. Forty-third supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 119: 897-906.

Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists' Union. 1998. Check-list of North American Birds: the Species of Birds of North America from the Arctic through Panama, including the West Indies and Hawaiian Islands, 7th ed

Ehrlich, P. R., D. S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The Birder's Handbook: a Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds. Simon and Schuster, Inc., New York

Elphick, C., J. B. Dunning, Jr., and D. A. Sibley, eds. 2001. The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.

Gough, G. A., Sauer, J. R., Iliff, M. Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter. 1998. Version 97.1. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD. http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/infocenter.html.

Sibley, D. A. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.

Stupka, A. 1963. Notes on the Birds of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. University of Tennessee Press.