• P.O. Box 521317 
    ​Big Lake, AK 99652
  • 907-892-2927
  • email@akwildbird.org

Education

Title 

slide 2 caption

corvid article

From the serious topic of Covid, we'll move on to Corvids, and our favorite big black bird, the raven.

Take a look up, you will see the resident ravens in the middle of their courtship behavior.  Watch the sky for a pair of ravens demonstrating their skills of flight, circling and diving together, reinforcing the pair bond.  On top of light poles are more ravens in pairs, allopreening (preening each other), as another way to show their loyalty to a mate.  Soon these pairs will build or steal a large stick nest near the top of a big tree and lay 3-7 eggs.  Ravens are able to raise large families partly because food is so easy to find.  They eat most anything.  Along with the stereotypical French fries, they eat road kill, fruits and berries, insects, frogs and other small animals.  Once the young have fledged, or left the nest, they will spend time as a family group learning to fly and hunt for food.  Adult ravens have numerous interesting calls, from the familiar caw to croaks, clicks and even imitations of human made sounds.  But the young have not learned the language yet, so are easily identified by their tedious caws as they communicate with each other and the parents that are always nearby.  By fall the young will be on their own.​


Education, Rehabilitation, Release

keeping the birds wild