Animal Tracks - Raven (Corvus corax)

Natural History of Ravens
Ravens are corvids, relatives of crows. They are black birds that have large, heavy bills. These large birds are commonly heard calling in the forest. Some of their calls sound like screams. Other calls sound like deep croaks or hollow knocking sounds. Ravens have a variety of calls. Some of the calls don't sound like birds at all. Ravens will chase red-tailed hawks. I once saw two ravens chase a bald eagle away from a salmon carcass they were feeding on. The eagle was much bigger, but the ravens had larger numbers.
	This is the largest perching bird. They can be identified in flight by the wedge-shaped tail. The tail of a crow is more squared off than that of a raven. These intelligent birds will raid food left on camp tables, and usually eat whatever they can find. They will eat carrion, insects, small animals, and fish. They have been known to feed at garbage dumps. They also will readily get into trash cans and dumpsters. If food is left out, or if a bit of a garbage bag protrudes from under the lid, a raven will be able to pull it out. They are very intelligent this way.

These tracks show the structure of the raven's foot. The bottom of a raven foot has a granular or pebbly texture, similar to that of turkeys and other birds. This probably gives them some traction for gripping branches. Their toes have joints and are very flexible to allow them to grip things. The middle toe doesn't point exactly forward. It points inward slightly. You can use this feature to tell the raven's right track from its left track.

	Their tracks resemble very large Steller’s jay tracks, often up to four inches long. They show three toes facing forward and one toe facing backward. In loose sand, there is often a long drag mark left by the middle toe. Like other ground-dwelling birds, their prints are one after the other in a straight line. (Birds that are primarily tree-dwellers leave paired prints.)

Raven Scats
A scat from a raven. The whitish material is commonly found on bird scats.
	Raven scat and uric splatter. This was found on the edge of the river.
Raven scat with pebbles clinging to it. It was collected from a river bank where there was coarse sand and rock.
	A nice raven scat found on the river bank. Whitish material is uric material, commonly found in bird scat.


Raven scat coated with uric material

	Raven scat composed of unknown dietary material.

A raven scat with white uric material. Seeds are visible in this scat.


Raven tracks and splat on my truck


In addition to scats, ravens produce cough pellets. These contain the materials that do not pass through the bird's system. In the pellet above, you can see pieces of plastic wrap that the raven got into in the garbage. They often eat out of garbage cans.


Beautiful right track of a raven in mud. notice how the center toe points inward. This track was made by the right foot.


A perfect right track in dusty soil


Raven feeding sign on a river bar. After high water recedes, new flotsam is left behind. The ravens search through the debris and find any edible items. Often, they will turn over pieces of wood or rocks in their search for food. In this photo, a small piece of bark has been moved.



Raven tracks criss-crossing on the sand of a river bar.


Raven tracks in coarse sand along a river.

Two raven tracks. One from each foot. Note that the middle toe points toward the inside of the line of travel. The right foot's middle toe points to the left, and the left foot's middle toe points to the right.


A raven in flight. Notice the wedge shape to the tail. This helps you identify ravens vs. crows. Crow tails are straight across, not diamond or wedge shaped.


A raven perched atop an old snag tree. Ravens will often sit like this and call for a long time.


The raven's claw left a long drag mark ahead of this left foot track.


A pair of raven tracks found in sand. These two tracks came from different ravens though. Notice that the left and right feet are switched. This is because two birds walked past this same point, leaving side-by-side tracks. Trackers have to pay attention to the trails they are following because things like this happen a lot.


Another raven track showing a long drag mark ahead of it from the claw.


A nice set of raven tracks showing the typical trail pattern. The long appearance of the claw is only due to dragging, not to the actual size of the claw!


A left raven track showing a drag mark from the hind claw.


The left track of a raven in firm mud


A right track in sand


Raven tracks on the hood of my truck


Pair of raven tracks in perfect mud. Great details can be seen in these!


This raven wandered around in a coastal sand dune, leaving the typical drag marks from its claws in the sand.


Nice claw marks from a raven's feet in a coastal sand dune


The beautiful right track of a raven in mud


Beautiful left foot track of a raven in mud near the river


This raven took its own photo when it walked past a trail camera mounted on a tree.


Personal Notes on Ravens
The ravens at the park I work at are known for raiding campground picnic tables. They love shiny objects and will pick up pieces of foil and fly off with them. I have seen ravens attacking their own reflections in shiny stovepipes. The stovepipes have to be painted black to stop the ravens from sitting on the roof all day pecking at the stovepipe! They will also peck at their reflections in car mirrors.
I enjoy photographing ravens. They are such beautiful birds!

Some of my photos of Ravens

Side view of a raven showing the large beak


Raven perched in a tree


A raven on a rock outcrop


Raven in sunset light


Raven on the top of a BBQ. Looking for snacks?


Look at those beautiful black feathers!


Ravens are very handsome birds


I zoomed in to show the raven's foot structure


A raven looking for food in the grass


Raven in flight


Raven hunting in grass


Ravens taking flight



Raven pellet