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| Lots of Steller's Jays, and a pair of Ravens, spent the entire winter here in our neighborhood. They both belong to the Corvidae, or Crow family of birds. It turns out that corvids are the smartest birds in the world! Many studies have shown that they are capable of modifying their inherited behavior patterns, by using their own brain power!! They are found on all the continents of the world, except for Antarctica, and all the countries, except New Zealand! |
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| Common Raven - Corvus corax Of all the corvids, Ravens may be the smartest! They are capable of learning innovative solutions to newly encountered problems! They are also the biggest of all perching birds! (Crows are a lot smaller than Ravens, and usually live locally in the foothills and the Central Valley of California.) Ravens can be found in almost any location across the globe! However, Ravens are non-migratory, and remain all year in their chosen location. Ravens mate for life, and begin nesting when winter has come close to its end. The female Raven builds the large 5' x 2' nest, on a cliff edge, or in a large tree. She usually lays 3-7 eggs, which hatch in approximately 20-25 days. After 5-7 weeks the young are ready to leave the nest. Ravens have been know to live up to 23 years in the wild! Ravens are omnivorous, and eat carrion, small mammals, baby birds, bird eggs, insects, acorns, grains, fish, and even garbage! They are also known to store extra food in secret hiding places! They will often feed together in large groups, but live singly or in mated pairs. Of all the corvids, Ravens are the most playful! They have been seen playing games, like dropping a stick in the air and catching it before it lands! Ravens also like to swing upside down, do rolls and somersaults in the air, and slide down snow banks! Scientists think this play may be just for fun, or perhaps a way of showing off and attracting a mate. |
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| Steller's Jay - Cyanocitta stelleri The Steller's Jay, another corvid, ranges from Alaska south through the United States, into Mexico, and Nicaragua. They are however, non-migratory and remain in their chosen location year round. Locally they prefer dense coniferous forests. Like Ravens, Steller's Jays are monogamous and mate for life! They are very secretive, when building their 10"-17" nests of natural materials and mud, and do not "converse" when they are near the nest! The female lays 2-6 eggs, which hatch in about 16 days! The fledglings leave the nest about a month after they hatch. They are omnivores, like Ravens, and eat carrion, small mammals, bird eggs, baby birds, insects, reptiles, acorns, berries, seeds, and garbage. They have habituated readily to humans, and are regular scavengers in residential areas, campgrounds and picnic areas. They are excellent vocal mimics, like Ravens, and easily imitate the sounds and calls made by other birds, dogs, cats, squirrels, as well as environmental and man made noises! |
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| Clark's Nutcracker - Nucifraga columbiana The Clark's Nutcracker is NOT found in my neighborhood, but they are corvids native to the high elevations of Sierra County. I had to mention them, because of their amazing ability to store pine seeds for the winter. One pair of nesting Clark's Nutcrackers was observed storing 33,000 pine seeds for winter, in 7,500 different locations!!! They only store a handful of seeds in each location, and have an unerring ability to find these cached seeds in the winter, underneath the snow! Now that's SMART! In the past, it was believed that because birds have a small cerebral cortex in their brains, they were not very smart. It has been since discovered that they have an additional organ in their forebrain, the hyperstriatum (which mammals lack), which is their organ of intelligence! Ravens also have large brains, with a brain to body size ratio comparable to dolphins! So if someone calls you a "Bird Brain", take it as a compliment!
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