--- title: "Common Raven (Corvus corax) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "The oversized scavenger that caches food out of rivals' sight, guards the stash when it might be seen, and is less willing to pull its weight after a partner cheats." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/common-raven-1.webp" published: "2026-09-05" updated: "2026-09-27" --- # Common Raven (*Corvus corax*) > **Status**: Checked against 7 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: The oversized scavenger that caches food out of rivals' sight, guards the stash when it might be seen, and is less willing to pull its weight after a partner cheats. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: Nordic Dark Folk & Ritual Atmospheric // Heilung, "Norupo" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/7oGwKNBX90dXL53ZbhPxJk) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PBo83bPyOE) > **Vibe Match**: More than 30 different vocalizations on record, from alarm calls to chase calls and territorial calls, matching Heilung's layered, many-voiced chanting. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Corvus corax* - **Danger Level**: Low - **Conservation Status**: Least Concern ([IUCN Red List](https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2025-2.rlts.t22706068a281841771.en)) - **Superpower**: Caches food out of rivals' sight, guards the stash when an unseen rival might be watching, and is less willing to pull after a partner cheats - **Habitat**: Tundra, seacoasts, rocky cliffs, mountain forests, plains and deserts across Europe, Asia, North Africa and North and Central America - **Diet**: Mainly carrion and other scavenged food, plus small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects, grains, acorns and fruit - **Tags**: woodland, mountains, tool-user, flying, omnivore, bird ## Natural History & Behavior ## The Biggest Perching Bird The **Common Raven** (*Corvus corax*) is usually set apart from other crows by its large size. Adults reach up to 69 centimeters long and weigh between 0.7 and 1.6 kilograms, and Animal Diversity Web lists them as the largest of the passerines, the perching birds. The oldest raven in the British Trust for Ornithology's ringing records survived 17 years, 11 months and 15 days. ## At Home Almost Anywhere but Rainforest Common ravens range from northern Europe, the British Isles, mostly coastal Greenland and Iceland east across Asia to the Pacific, south to the Himalayas, the Middle East, northwest Africa and the Canary Islands, and through North and Central America. They prefer open country such as treeless tundra, seacoasts, rocky cliffs, mountain forests, plains and deserts, but turn up in most habitat types except rainforest. Ravens are mainly scavengers, but they also eat small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects, and round things out with grains, acorns, fruit and buds. Stomach analyses show their diet is mostly mammal flesh, followed by insects and birds. ## Hiding a Meal From a Thief Ravens hide food of all kinds, from nuts and bones to eggs and meat, in caches. In one study of four captive ravens, a small amount of food that any one bird could have carried off in several trips got all four caching sooner and faster. When there was only enough food for one bird to control, caching was greatly delayed. Given space to get out of their rivals' sight, the birds cached farther from the food. > **Guarding Against an Unseen Rival** In another experiment, ravens hid food while a hidden loudspeaker played sounds recorded from a rival raven, though the room next door was empty. They guarded their caches against discovery when a peephole in the wall between the rooms was open, but not when it was shut. The researchers suggest ravens can infer the possibility of being seen from their own experience. ## Teamwork With Conditions Attached Without any training, nine captive ravens spontaneously cooperated in a puzzle where two birds had to pull both ends of a string at the same moment to drag a food platform within reach. Pulling one end alone unthreaded the string and left the platform where it was. The more tolerant two birds were of each other, the more successfully they cooperated. A bird whose partner had taken both rewards on the last successful try was less likely to pull on the next one. Ravens have more than 30 different vocalizations on record, including alarm calls, chase calls and calls for advertising territories, and in human care they can mimic simple sounds, even human speech. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Do ravens really steal food from other ravens' hiding spots? Yes. In one study, captive ravens recovered their own caches and also routinely recovered the ones they had seen other ravens make. When a bird could not get out of a rival's view, it put off caching or hid its food while the rival was busy. *(Source: [Heinrich & Pepper 1998]())* ### Can ravens tell if another raven can see them hiding food? It looks that way. Ravens in one study were first trained to use a peephole to spy on human-made caches in the next room. Tested later with an open peephole and rival sounds playing, they treated the test like caching in full view of another raven, as though an audible competitor could potentially see their caches. *(Source: [Bugnyar, Reber & Buckner 2016]())* ### Do ravens cooperate with each other? They can, without any training. In a string-pulling test, tolerance between birds predicted cooperative success both in pairs set up by the researchers and in a group where each raven could choose its partner. A bird that grabbed both rewards did not become fairer afterwards: it became even more likely to cheat again. *(Source: [Massen, Ritter & Bugnyar 2015]())* ### How long do common ravens live? The Smithsonian's National Zoo says a wild raven can live 10 to 15 years, and one in human care could possibly reach 40 or 50. *(Source: [Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute]())* ## Sources 1. [Corvus corax (common raven). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.]() 2. [Common raven. Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.]() 3. [Raven. BirdFacts, British Trust for Ornithology.]() 4. [Corvus corax. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2025: e.T22706068A281841771.]() 5. [Heinrich & Pepper (1998). Influence of competitors on caching behaviour in the common raven, Corvus corax. Animal Behaviour.]() 6. [Bugnyar, Reber & Buckner (2016). Ravens attribute visual access to unseen competitors. Nature Communications.]() 7. [Massen, Ritter & Bugnyar (2015). Tolerance and reward equity predict cooperation in ravens (Corvus corax). Scientific Reports.]() *Published September 5, 2026. Last updated September 27, 2026.* ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Article", "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/common-raven/#article", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/#website" }, "headline": "Common Raven (Corvus corax) | AnimalTracks.wiki", "description": "The oversized scavenger that caches food out of rivals' sight, guards the stash when it might be seen, and is less willing to pull its weight after a partner cheats.", "image": [ "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/common-raven-1.webp" ], "datePublished": "2026-09-05", "dateModified": "2026-09-27", "author": [ { "@type": "Organization", "name": "AnimalTracks.wiki Editorial Team", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki" } ], "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/#organization", "name": "AnimalTracks.wiki", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/icon-512.png" } }, "mainEntityOfPage": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/common-raven/", "citation": [ { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "Corvus corax (common raven)", "url": "https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Corvus_corax/", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan" } }, { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "Common raven", "url": "https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/common-raven", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute" } }, { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "Raven", "url": "https://www.bto.org/understanding-birds/birdfacts/raven", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "BirdFacts, British Trust for Ornithology" } }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Corvus corax. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2025: e.T22706068A281841771", "url": "https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2025-2.rlts.t22706068a281841771.en", "datePublished": "2025", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species" }, "identifier": "doi:10.2305/iucn.uk.2025-2.rlts.t22706068a281841771.en" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Influence of competitors on caching behaviour in the common raven, Corvus corax", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1998.0906", "author": "Heinrich & Pepper", "datePublished": "1998", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Animal Behaviour" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1006/anbe.1998.0906" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Ravens attribute visual access to unseen competitors", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10506", "author": "Bugnyar, Reber & Buckner", "datePublished": "2016", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Nature Communications" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1038/ncomms10506" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Tolerance and reward equity predict cooperation in ravens (Corvus corax)", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/srep15021", "author": "Massen, Ritter & Bugnyar", "datePublished": "2015", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Scientific Reports" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1038/srep15021" } ], "about": { "@type": "Taxon", "name": "Common Raven", "scientificName": "Corvus corax", "description": "Caches food out of rivals' sight, guards the stash when an unseen rival might be watching, and is less willing to pull after a partner cheats" } }, { "@type": "FAQPage", "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/common-raven/#faq", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "Do ravens really steal food from other ravens' hiding spots?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Yes. In one study, captive ravens recovered their own caches and also routinely recovered the ones they had seen other ravens make. When a bird could not get out of a rival's view, it put off caching or hid its food while the rival was busy.", "citation": { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Influence of competitors on caching behaviour in the common raven, Corvus corax", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1998.0906", "author": "Heinrich & Pepper", "datePublished": "1998", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Animal Behaviour" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1006/anbe.1998.0906" } } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Can ravens tell if another raven can see them hiding food?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "It looks that way. Ravens in one study were first trained to use a peephole to spy on human-made caches in the next room. Tested later with an open peephole and rival sounds playing, they treated the test like caching in full view of another raven, as though an audible competitor could potentially see their caches.", "citation": { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Ravens attribute visual access to unseen competitors", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10506", "author": "Bugnyar, Reber & Buckner", "datePublished": "2016", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Nature Communications" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1038/ncomms10506" } } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Do ravens cooperate with each other?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "They can, without any training. In a string-pulling test, tolerance between birds predicted cooperative success both in pairs set up by the researchers and in a group where each raven could choose its partner. A bird that grabbed both rewards did not become fairer afterwards: it became even more likely to cheat again.", "citation": { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Tolerance and reward equity predict cooperation in ravens (Corvus corax)", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/srep15021", "author": "Massen, Ritter & Bugnyar", "datePublished": "2015", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Scientific Reports" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1038/srep15021" } } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How long do common ravens live?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The Smithsonian's National Zoo says a wild raven can live 10 to 15 years, and one in human care could possibly reach 40 or 50.", "citation": { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "Common raven", "url": "https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/common-raven", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "MusicRecording", "name": "Norupo", "byArtist": { "@type": "MusicGroup", "name": "Heilung" }, "genre": "Nordic Dark Folk & Ritual Atmospheric", "url": "https://open.spotify.com/track/7oGwKNBX90dXL53ZbhPxJk" } ] } ```