The cleverest of all the birds – the common raven. Typically thought of as a fully black bird, it’s pretty amazing how much colour variation there is in the raven’s feathers when they’re in the light. Purples and blues abound.
Things I have learned in researching ravens. There’s no consistent distinction between crows and ravens – people just tend to call the smaller black birds crows, and larger ones ravens. I always assumed the two names were interchangeable, but after taking our trip to Whitehorse last year and seeing just how big the crows/ravens were there, I changed my tune and figured they must be different. However, Wikipedia has now informed me that my initial position was correct and my whole world is spiralling out of control.
Regardless, ravens are cool, can vary wildly in size, and while technically this is still a local bird – I’ve seen plenty of crows/ravens in St. Catharines – this specific raven is one I spotted perched atop the SS Klondike in Whitehorse. I think the raven was as interested in Katie and I puttering around as we were of it.
