The raven is determined. He nips again and again until finally the eagle drops the fish back in the water and flies after the raven. The raven swoops in, grabs the fish, and darts away with its dinner.

Ravens are big black birds in the corvid family, a bird kind that God created on day five of creation week. The corvid family includes crows, rooks, magpies, and jays.

Corvids are some of the most intelligent animals on earth. But intelligence is just one fantastic feature God gave ravens to thrive in our fallen world.

Play Time

The common raven lives in most habitats in the Northern Hemisphere, including forests, deserts, plains, mountains, coastlines, and farms. They live all over Ireland. In the US, they live in New England, the Appalachian Mountains, and out West.

Have you ever spotted these large black birds soaring and diving through the air? With their long wings, they can fly up to 40 miles per hour and travel 100 miles in one day! But their four-foot wingspan is designed to soar—and play.

Just like you, ravens love to play. Sometimes, they drop a stick or a rock from the sky and dive after it. They also play tag and hide-and-seek with fellow ravens or toss sticks and rocks to each other in a high-flying game of catch. Some young ravens even roll and slide in snowbanks!

Male ravens also play to show off to female birds. To attract a mate, male ravens perform spectacular gymnastics routines while in the air. If a female likes a male’s performance, she’ll mate with him—usually for life.

Ravens in the Bible

Noah released a raven to test the levels of the floodwaters (Genesis 8:6–7). And in 1 Kings 17:4–6, God commanded ravens to bring food to the prophet Elijah.

Multi-Purpose Beaks

The raven has a long, powerful beak that it uses for many purposes—like a built-in Swiss Army knife. The raven uses it to pry open manmade containers or crack open nuts to get to a tasty treat.

Before Adam and Eve sinned, there was no death, so ravens would not have hunted other animals for food. But now, in our fallen world, ravens hunt small mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. They sometimes use their beaks to kill prey, eat eggs, or dig for bugs, one of their favorite snacks.

Bird Brain

Sometimes a raven’s food is hard to reach—like the meat on a dead animal. But no problem is too big for the clever raven. When it sees a dead animal, it mimics the cries of wolves and other large predators. The cries lure the predators over to tear the carcass open, giving the raven access to the meat inside.

These brainy birds also save food for later by burying their leftovers in the ground or hiding them under rocks.

In a study, scientists taught ravens how to use a rock to get to a treat. The next day, the scientists gave the ravens a choice between the rock and a toy. The ravens chose the rock most of the time and then used it like a tool to get to a treat, just as they had been taught.

Ravens in the wild use tools, too. They might use a stick to help them get a hard-to-reach snack, and they sometimes drop rocks on humans who wander too close to their nests.

Speak Up!

Ravens make all kinds of sounds—croaking, whistling, and sharply crying. As expert copycats, they can mimic other birds, animals, the sound of dripping water, and even human voices! At the World Bird Sanctuary, a raven named Mischief was taught to say “Hi,” “Hello,” and “Go to your perch.”

In one study, scientists discovered that ravens also “talk” with their beaks, using them to point at nearby objects.

From their soaring acrobatics to their clever croaks, there’s more to the common raven than meets the eye. These brainy black birds are a common reminder to worship the Creator for the incredible creatures he has made.