When is the last time your neighbor greeted you? Probably every day! The Corvid Family also lives in your yard and in your neighborhood. Have you met them? They are the common blue jays along with crows, ravens and magpies. You are likely to hear them often as they are quite vocal. Here on Long Island, there are blue jays, crows and ravens.

Believe it or not, there are 135 species in this family and they are known to be super smart. Crows and ravens have special brains that allow them to reason and solve problems. Studies have shown that crows use tools and often make them! Ravens solve puzzles and have an uncanny memory for human faces...they never forget a face! Ravens even pre-plan tasks. Two un-releasable blue jays live at Sweetbriar and have bonded with staff, often communicating with them by whistling back and forth.

Ravens, like all other corvids, are monogamous, and the bond typically lasts for life. Ravens select their partners in the autumn, following impressive acrobatic displays. Following pairing, the duo preen each other, and usually support each other in aggressive interactions with other ravens.

You may be wondering who removed your garbage can covers and you’re convinced it’s the raccoons. Very often it’s ravens and crows!

SURPRISING FACTS:

Scavenging accounts for very little of a crow’s diet. The bulk of their daily meal is made up of human refuse, invertebrates and worms. The American crow is known to catch its own fish, for example, in some cases even using bread or other food as bait to lure fish closer.

They have some of the best spatial memory of any animal and they account for the largest songbird in the world!

DID YOU KNOW?

Sweetbriar made headlines again in January 2023 when 13 electrocuted crows were brought to us. They have since been rehabilitated and released in the fall of 2023. Take a look at the video of their release on our Facebook page.

Anne Marie Tognella, Sweetbriar Volunteer