WILDLIFE

If It’s Not A Raven, Then What Is This Big Black Bird?

How a day trip to a wildlife park provides the answer

This big black bird was caught on camera (by the author) flying towards the roof of a supermarket

It is common knowledge, I believe, that corvids are intelligent birds. Crows, ravens, and rooks are the most intelligent birds in the world. They are all corvids.

(Parrots, by the way, have high IQs, too. They are not corvids.)

My interest in corvids started a few years ago with the blackbird, also a corvid. Our back garden at the time was in full view from our kitchen.

This blackbird is a regular visitor in my garden; photo by the author

A lone blackbird usually appeared in the mornings to look for worms on the ground, and then would bathe in the tiny birdbath.

Then a crow, one day, visited the garden. I was mesmerized, maybe even frightened. It was pitch black, exactly how it is described in literary works exuding dark atmospheres.

Was the visit of this beautiful bird (but a scary-looking feathered creature) an omen, or something?

Call me someone with an over-active imagination which crosses the border of fantasy from reality, but it is what I am.