The great rover of the coniferous forest

The great rover of the coniferous forest, the raven

Korp

The raven is the great rover of the coniferous forest. Already during the breeding season, it has got to be huge areas, covered by the search activity of the raven pair, around the place of the nest. And during other parts of the year there scarcely are any coniferous forest lands, that not, every now and then, receive visits from the big, black observers. Around quiet, desert lakes and swamps, and around dark mountain ridges covered with coniferous forest, echoes the raven call. Few birds communicate that effectively whom that comes to the district. »Korrp - korrp» sounds the call loudly and far out across the forest.

The raven on long wandering within the country - which within parenthesis is a lot more common than what is in general familiar - flying across on huge height. Merely the raven call reveals it, and we view the black birds, flying sky high, in a way like birds of prey do, flying in circles, then gliding great distances. On hunting and search within the home territory the journey, on the contrary, frequently goes almost in tree top level. If you then are down in the forest, often it is just the sound that reveals the bird. Maybe you can catch a gleam of two big, black birds on long, softly bent wings, shaped almost like the blade of a penknife.

The raven seems to have an incredible nose to find eatable things within her hunting ground, but »the nose» naturally is in this case the sharp eyes. A slaughter place, during the elk hunt, in the fall, can frequently, effectively illustrate the existence of the raven in the district, even if nobody knew it before. It is likely that the tracking down is done in the same way, as the vultures, on the African savanna, and the gulls along the coast do. The birds that are closest hurry to the place, their special, fast flight, is observed by others further away, when they speed up, they are observed by additionally other birds yet longer away, and so on. Maybe it is the small titmouse that initially sets the avalanche in movement around the dead elk. Then the forest jay or the Siberian jay come, they will be seen by crows and magpies, and finally is the vast roving raven there. Yes, finally, maybe the huge, dark wing silhouette of the eagle glides in, across the scene.

Formerly the raven has got to be a common bird in many directions in the country. Names on lakes and mountain like Rammen, Ramklev and Ramhult tell about old quarters for »rammen»(old Swedish for the raven), the »ramsvarte»-the raven-black. That the raven then died out in many districts has earlier been blamed on hard persecution from man, but there are some later indications that signifies that this was not the only reason. Formerly the raven has been favoured of worse order in man's dross, of man's hunting out in the lands the year around, and thereto, of the hunt and waste of the bigger animals of prey, in lands, now empty of predators. When the accessible nutrition on later years for very special reasons locally increases, the raven stock has directly replied with a surprisingly quick increase. Familiar is how the laying out of slaughter waste as fertilizer in western Sweden, resulted in an almost amazing quick increase of the raven, and the death of reindeers along railways and main roads in the north have altogether apparently favoured the raven in these districts. Once more the raven calls resound in many directions in the steeps at Ramklev and Ramhult and the other mountains.

And you have got to say that it is a gain for a poorer landscape that the raven comes back, when at the same time, by persecution and interference of different kinds we are loosing many other peculiar profiles of the fauna, say falcon, great horned owl and eagle. The game warden often looks askance at this assumed competitor, but as a matter of fact we know nothing about whether this, above all, carrion eating bird, have any actual importance, in the increase or reduction, in the rodent stock, in a certain region.

The ravens around and above their mountain instead offer a feast for both eye and ear, particularly during the time between winter and spring. They are amazingly skillful aeronauts and can for quite a while devote themselves at appalling flying games with gliding flight, turning somersault and divings with contracted wings, all accompanied by a rich and varying repertoire of sounds. While the snow yet lies deep around the mountain the raven is building on her dwell, preferably in an altogether inaccessible, oven- like cleft in the rock-face. But where there are no mountains the raven can also choose the top in a tall tree. Seen on short distance it is a beautiful building. The exterior looks like a fine wicker basket interlaced of occasionally inch thick smooth dry branches in gray and sand brown, and inside the ravens line a warm thick wall of grass, bast, wool and hair. It can be needed, when the naked nestlings, are in the nest, during cold nights, between winter and spring, with severe cold. During this time the female not willingly leaves the nest with the nestlings, and it becomes the male that minds the food providing on long tours in the surroundings. Fairly soon the nest shelf and the shelves around, begin to shine yellow-white from a far distance. The ravens have, like the birds of prey, a running dropping, and the nestlings fire it out across the edge of the nest in a ray, making the rock-face white striped. The extent of the»white painting» becomes a measurement of how far the ravens have come in their breeding.

In May, before most other birds even have begun their breeding, the nestlings leave the nest. However they stay in the nearest surroundings and follow inexhaustibly the parents on the shelves and in the trees with echoing cries, begging food with up pointing beaks and with half spread wings. Only then, when you view the two generations beside each other, it becomes apparent how magnificent blue-black shimmering the old bird's suit is, compared with the dull black one, of the young. The raven acquires two years to become able to breed, and it is, with all probability, mostly those, yet non sexually mature, young birds, that you unexpectedly can get to see on wandering in all parts of the country.

Published with the author's permission .
From Barrskogens fåglar Viking Olsson
© 1968 Viking Olsson
Almqvist & Wiksell Förlag AB, Stockholm
photo ©Viking Olsson
Viking Olsson, Stigarvägen 1, S-611 65 Nyköping, Sweden.

photo ©Viking Olsson

The great rover of the coniferous forest, the raven


The raven is the great rover of the coniferous forest. Already during the breeding season, it has got to be huge areas, covered by the search activity of the raven pair, around the place of the nest. And during other parts of the year there scarcely are any coniferous forest lands, that not, every now and then, receive visits from the big, black observers. Around quiet, desert lakes and swamps, and around dark mountain ridges covered with coniferous forest, echoes the raven call. Few birds communicate that effectively whom that comes to the district. »Korrp - korrp» sounds the call loudly and far out across the forest. The raven on long wandering within the country - which within parenthesis is a lot more common than what is in general familiar - flying across on huge height. Merely the raven call reveals it, and we view the black birds, flying sky high, in a way like birds of prey do, flying in circles, then gliding great distances. On hunting and search within the home territory the journey, on the contrary, frequently goes almost in tree top level. If you then are down in the forest, often it is just the sound that reveals the bird. Maybe you can catch a gleam of two big, black birds on long, softly bent wings, shaped almost like the blade of a penknife. The raven seems to have an incredible nose to find eatable things within her hunting ground, but »the nose» naturally is in this case the sharp eyes. A slaughter place, during the elk hunt, in the fall, can frequently, effectively illustrate the existence of the raven in the district, even if nobody knew it before. It is likely that the tracking down is done in the same way, as the vultures, on the African savanna, and the gulls along the coast do. The birds that are closest hurry to the place, their special, fast flight, is observed by others further away, when they speed up, they are observed by additionally other birds yet longer away, and so on. Maybe it is the small titmouse that initially sets the avalanche in movement around the dead elk. Then the forest jay or the Siberian jay come, they will be seen by crows and magpies, and finally is the vast roving raven there. Yes, finally, maybe the huge, dark wing silhouette of the eagle glides in, across the scene. Formerly the raven has got to be a common bird in many directions in the country. Names on lakes and mountain like Rammen, Ramklev and Ramhult tell about old quarters for »rammen»(old Swedish for the raven), the »ramsvarte»-the raven-black. That the raven then died out in many districts has earlier been blamed on hard persecution from man, but there are some later indications that signifies that this was not the only reason. Formerly the raven has been favoured of worse order in man's dross, of man's hunting out in the lands the year around, and thereto, of the hunt and waste of the bigger animals of prey, in lands, now empty of predators. When the accessible nutrition on later years for very special reasons locally increases, the raven stock has directly replied with a surprisingly quick increase. Familiar is how the laying out of slaughter waste as fertilizer in western Sweden, resulted in an almost amazing quick increase of the raven, and the death of reindeers along railways and main roads in the north have altogether apparently favoured the raven in these districts. Once more the raven calls resound in many directions in the steeps at Ramklev and Ramhult and the other mountains. And you have got to say that it is a gain for a poorer landscape that the raven comes back, when at the same time, by persecution and interference of different kinds we are loosing many other peculiar profiles of the fauna, say falcon, great horned owl and eagle. The game warden often looks askance at this assumed competitor, but as a matter of fact we know nothing about whether this, above all, carrion eating bird, have any actual importance, in the increase or reduction, in the rodent stock, in a certain region. The ravens around and above their mountain instead offer a feast for both eye and ear, particularly during the time between winter and spring. They are amazingly skillful aeronauts and can for quite a while devote themselves at appalling flying games with gliding flight, turning somersault and divings with contracted wings, all accompanied by a rich and varying repertoire of sounds. While the snow yet lies deep around the mountain the raven is building on her dwell, preferably in an altogether inaccessible, oven- like cleft in the rock-face. But where there are no mountains the raven can also choose the top in a tall tree. Seen on short distance it is a beautiful building. The exterior looks like a fine wicker basket interlaced of occasionally inch thick smooth dry branches in gray and sand brown, and inside the ravens line a warm thick wall of grass, bast, wool and hair. It can be needed, when the naked nestlings, are in the nest, during cold nights, between winter and spring, with severe cold. During this time the female not willingly leaves the nest with the nestlings, and it becomes the male that minds the food providing on long tours in the surroundings. Fairly soon the nest shelf and the shelves around, begin to shine yellow-white from a far distance. The ravens have, like the birds of prey, a running dropping, and the nestlings fire it out across the edge of the nest in a ray, making the rock-face white striped. The extent of the»white painting» becomes a measurement of how far the ravens have come in their breeding. In May, before most other birds even have begun their breeding, the nestlings leave the nest. However they stay in the nearest surroundings and follow inexhaustibly the parents on the shelves and in the trees with echoing cries, begging food with up pointing beaks and with half spread wings. Only then, when you view the two generations beside each other, it becomes apparent how magnificent blue-black shimmering the old bird's suit is, compared with the dull black one, of the young. The raven acquires two years to become able to breed, and it is, with all probability, mostly those, yet non sexually mature, young birds, that you unexpectedly can get to see on wandering in all parts of the country.
Published with the author's permission . From Barrskogens fåglar Viking Olsson © 1968 Viking Olsson Almqvist & Wiksell Förlag AB, Stockholm photo ©Viking Olsson Viking Olsson, Stigarvägen 1, S-611 65 Nyköping, Sweden.