I saw this myself the other day actually. A pair was flying around, free
falling, and doing other seemingly enjoying flight patterns and tricks. I
decided to look it up in the Stokes behavior books and it said that pairs
will practice flight together like this all year long as part of their
intimacy together. They mate for life. I saw upwards of 15 of them hanging
out together that day and wondered if it was a family unit.

On Mon, Jan 18, 2021 at 8:13 AM Maeve Kim <[log in to unmask]> 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
>
-- 
*Juli Tyson*