The Raven (Corvus Corax)

By Curator Simon Lawton

Ravens are found mainly in the north and west of Britain, but are gradually extending their range eastwards. Once common, years of persecution drove them to moorland, mountains and cliffs, but they can also be found on farmland with tall trees.

The raven is the largest member of the crow family and also the largest species of perching bird in the world. They land on the ground to eat carrion, which is their main food, but they will also take live birds and eggs, small mammals, large insects as well as some fruit and seeds. At times large parties collect and wheel and soar in the air together, and they may form roosts containing dozens of birds. Wonderful aerobatics take place in the spring as part of the courtship display, and there are ceremonies on the ground as well.

Perching Raven. Photograph by Becky Dick of Taxtiles

Ravens raise only one brood each year, starting very early in the spring, in February or March. Both sexes build the large nest of twigs, sticks, heather stalks and sometimes pieces of seaweed. There are usually four to six eggs, which hatch in about three weeks. The chicks are five to six weeks old before they can fly.

An unkindness is a collective name for ravens, and the birds have long been associated in folklore with death, disease, or disaster. This association with doom and as birds of ill-omen explains why they have long been persecuted in Britain. However, there has often been a difference between how the bird has been viewed between town and country.

During the Middle Ages, ravens were valued in towns for their contribution to eating refuse, so prevalent in urban settings at the time. Because of this valuable ‘public service’, the raven was protected by Royal Decree, with penalties for killing it. The Venetian ambassador in London during the reign of Henry VII wrote: ‘the raven may croak at his pleasure, for no one cares for the omen; there is even a penalty attached to destroying them, as they say that they keep the streets of towns free from all filth’.

A raven portrayed in a Medieval Manuscript.

By the 1500s public perceptions were being reversed and eventually persecution was encouraged. Under the 1566 Tudor Vermin Laws, a bounty of one penny per head was paid.

In the early nineteenth century, parish payments for killing ravens ceased, but persecution did not end.  In fact, with the rise of game estates, persecution increased as gamekeepers viewed the birds as a menace. Today, ravens are protected under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act and their numbers are increasing.

This new addition to the museum’s natural history collection was acquired from Taxtiles Taxidermy https://www.taxtiles.com/ and was ethically sourced. Come and visit the museum to see this beautiful specimen up close!