Thanks to all for sharing your wonderful stories of raven acrobatics and more!  - Linda

> On Jan 18, 2021, at 9:53 AM, Jane Stein <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Great story, Ian!  Thanks very much.
> 
> Jane
> (Shoreham)
> 
> On Mon, 18 Jan 2021 09:39:15 -0500, Ian Worley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> Years ago while doing wildland surveys in remote parts of southeastern 
>> Alaska I encountered three ravens on a single utility wire in a small, 
>> essentially roadless, fishing village.  Ravens were everywhere, and 
>> their antics were just as Maeve has described.
>> 
>> One bird, which I took to be a female, was perched on the wire.  The 
>> other two, which I took to being males were coming and going to the 
>> wire, shuffling along the wire to cozy up with the female .... who would
> 
>> skitter further down the wire.  Then one of the males took flight and 
>> went through some aerobatic maneuvers overhead and then landed right by 
>> the female who moved away.  The second male then took his turn and did 
>> some definitely serious flips, wing-overs, spiral dives, and zooms. He 
>> too landed on the wire, and she-the-audience again skittered away.
>> 
>> After another round or two of this, one of the males landed a couple of 
>> feet from the female.  The other male had distanced several feet away.  
>> The landing male was croaking away and began to rock back and forth on 
>> the wire, back and forth more vigorously, then suddenly on one of the 
>> rocking backwards just kept going and started spinning around the wire 
>> backwards, hanging on with his feet, faster and faster.  After a few 
>> more revolutions he let go, being tossed airborne from the wire in one 
>> chaotic dizzy finale. He restored himself and returned to land 
>> victorious by the female.  But there was only an empty wire ........ she
> 
>> had left during the performance, apparently having had enough.
>> 
>> Ian
>> =========================================
>> 
>> On 1/18/2021 8:12 AM, Maeve Kim wrote:
>>> One time in southeastern Oregon, a group of us watched 15 ravens
>>> playing: sometimes two of them gripping talons and tumbling' sometimes
>>> one climbing high and then diving straight for the ground and pulling
> up
>>> just in time; sometimes two or three passing a stick or a feather back
>>> and forth, one dropping it, another picking it up, flying a bit and
> then
>>> dropping it. We watched for over a half hour, and the birds were still
>>> romping when we finally left. - I think omnivores, like all the
> Corvids,
>>> have much more time on their hands than the birds who have to spend all
>>> of every single day just getting enough food to stay alive. The
> corvidae
>>> have used that extra time to think, reason, problem-solve, communicate
> -
>>> and play!
>>> Maeve Kim, Jericho Center
>>> 
>>>> On Jan 17, 2021, at 9:44 PM, Linda Gionti <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> A week ago I saw something I’ve never witnessed before: 2 ravens that
>>>> appeared to have their claws locked together tumbling end over end in
>>>> free fall. They broke apart just above the treetops. I’d read about
>>>> eagles and other raptors doing that, but didn’t know that ravens do it
>>>> as well. From the little bit I’ve read it sounds like it can be either
>>>> courtship or conflict… for raptors anyway. I’d be interested in
> hearing
>>>> whether others have seen this kind of display from ravens.
>>>> 
>>>> Linda Gionti, Hanksville
>