Common raven
For centuries, people have been fascinated by ravens. These large black birds play a major role in the stories and myths of many cultures. Sometimes as a symbol of death and destruction and other times as a symbol of wisdom and mystery. But there is also plenty to tell about the raven's behaviour and adaptability. Unravel everything about the raven here.
13 years
40 centimeters
69 centimeters
700 – 1600 grams
Although it may not sing like a nightingale, the raven belongs to the order of songbirds. It can be recognised by its shiny black plumage. The raven resembles the closely related crow, but is a lot bigger and has a more fan-shaped tail. Its beak is also larger and more massive.
...common ravens use the heat of the air to take off, just like many birds of prey? This way, they conserve energy while flying!
...common ravens can reach a wingspan of up to 1.5 meters?
Ravens are found across much of the northern hemisphere, including North America, Europe, North Africa and large parts of Asia. They survive in many different landscapes, from icy tundra to blistering hot deserts. Only tropical rainforests and areas where they were once extirpated lack them. In the Netherlands, they also occur, but are rare.
Ravens are highly intelligent animals that will find something to eat almost anywhere. They like to look for grains or fruits. But they also hunt all kinds of different animals, from snails to scorpions and from frogs to rabbits. In addition, they are important scavengers - animals that eat previously dead animals. They find these carcasses, for example, by following hunting wolves. When they have finished eating, the ravens eat the rest. This is how they keep their habitat clean and prevent the spread of disease.
Ravens adapt well to almost any habitat. Even areas with a lot of human disturbance offer ravens opportunities to survive. Rubbish dumps full of discarded food offer an alternative to the carcasses they find in the wild. Other ravens structurally scour the highways in the morning, looking for fresh roadkill to eat. Typically, even more ravens live around cities and highways than in their original habitats. The raven shows us perfectly how some animals can still adapt despite the many problems caused by mankind.
Ravens used to be common in the Dutch landscape. Unfortunately, there was also a lot of superstition surrounding this black scavenger, which for many symbolised wars and death. Partly because of this, the raven was intensively hunted until the last pair nested in the Netherlands in 1944. After their disappearance, new ravens were fortunately introduced, hatching the first nest in 1976. Since then, hard work has been done to bring back the raven. Nowadays, there are more than 200 breeding pairs again and that number is fortunately increasing.
The ravens at Rotterdam Zoo share their enclosure with the much larger Steller's sea eagles. These birds also encounter each other in the wild, as ravens sometimes eat from the remains of these birds of prey. As in nature, our ravens are fed a varied diet consisting of mice, chicks, red meat, insects, fruit, and sometimes some seeds or fish. In the lower bushes of the enclosure, they can also search for insects, while the higher trees offer them shelter from wind and rain. They also find dry shelter in the nest boxes.
