A raven’s rollercoaster
As Ol’ J-Lat loves to remind us, ravens are fascinating creatures to observe. Winter is a great time for it! These intelligent, social, and dynamic critters appear to love cold and windy weather.
This week, John watched a raven playing in a strong wind blowing over a forest. The raven was dipping in and out of the turbulent pocket of air where the protected tree canopy met the strong breeze. Floating just beneath the wind, the raven would glide upward and curve its wings as it caught the airstream, using the force of the wind to rocket itself skyward. At the top of the ascent, the raven paused, then allowed the wind to slow and stall its progress, returning to the turbulent area before soaring into the sky again.
To me, it seems like the raven was enjoying the same experience we get when we stick our hand out the window of a car to catch the breeze. The raven, however, gets to experience the full-body version – given my queasiness on rollercoasters, I’m not sure I'd have the stomach for it.
Want to learn more about how ravens play, learn, and form societies? John Latimer suggests The Mind of the Raven by Bernd Heinrich, and Sax-Zim Bog is hosting a corvid ecology field trip on Feb. 15.
Topics
- Introduction (0:00-0:24)
- First sub-zero temperatures (0:24-3:28)
- Ravens delight in the cold (3:28-5:23)
- Identifying tracks with students (5:23-7:13)
- Visitors to the bird feeder (7:13-8:41)
- European Starlings (8:41-13:32)
- Winter resident birds are scarce this year (13:32-14:35)
- Deer populations (14:35-15:33)
- Bald Eagles and ravens visit roadside diner (15:33-16:21)
- Conclusion (16:21-17:34)
What have you seen out there? Let us know: email us at comments@kaxe.org or text us at 218-326-1234.
That does it for this week! For more phenology, subscribe to our Season Watch Newsletter or visit the Season Watch Facebook page.
Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).
