Or Stop me if you’ve heard this one. I know what you’re thinking, Ravens can’t talk or a least if they do they can’t tell jokes, but I think you’re wrong my friend. Too many times when I’ve been out in the field I’ve heard this kind of strangled, snorting sound, like someone wanting to caw out loud but struggles to contain it until they just can’t help themselves and they caw all over the place. The reason they try to hold back is they always want to appear cool. Being cool is everything to a raven. If ravens were people they’d all want to be Steve McQueen. One exception to this rule is when they’re in a roost and forming an “unkindness” of ravens, bet you didn’t know that’s what a bunch of ravens is called, I didn’t either until I spoke to our resident Birdologist, Dr. Lemuel Beakston, who we are glad to report is back on staff on a part time basis, and he confirmed it. But all bets are off when the ravens form an ‘unkindness’ at the roost and let their feathers down and just act goofy. According to Dr. Beakston that’s what all that noise is when you hear them all gathered together, they’re telling jokes, making sarcastic remarks about crows, their dumb third cousins, and generally making fools of themselves until they fall off their perches. That type of behavior is difficult to observe in the wild unless you spend a lot of time in the field, which we do. As has been mentioned before we bring you the most up to date information on wildlife activities and behaviors that can be found on the interweb so that you, our readers, have the most complete knowledge of the natural world possible. It is a free service we provide here at the Worldwide Headquarters of our Media Empire and we’re glad to do it. Stay tuned, there’s more to come.
You must be logged in to post a comment.