h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

...and so has GB - the ravens at the Tower of London, that is.

Here's a photo she took:

http://picasaweb.google.com/galaxybabe/LondonMay2009#5334470317380495810

I didn't count them, though, but there were a few.

Thanks Bel

Websailor

Thought I'd let you know.

I took a couple of photos, too, but they came out blurred.
You can't get near enough to really appreciate how large they are.

An interesting read.

Thanks both

Glad all is well with the ravens in the Tower Bel. Thanks for photos too. I seem to remember seeing them a while back when you first put them up, but I had forgotten.

Websailor

You're welcome. Tower of London isn't the cheapest place to go, but I had never been there before, and I had lovely company.

Aww, they made little housies for them!

Another interesting article, Websailor! Interesting stats on the Northern Raven: it is not only the biggest member of the crow family (reaching a weight of over 1.5 kg/3 lbs), it is also the biggest Passerine - that is to say, singing bird. Yes it can hardly be said to be 'singing', but it belongs to the same order as songbirds like thrushes, warblers, canaries and a heck of a lot of other bird species.

The Northern Raven is also the most *widespread* member of the crow family, occurring in North America, Europe, north Africa, and most of Asia.

They don't occur in sub-Saharan Africa though! Over here, we have other crow species: the African Black Crow, the Pied Crow, and the Thickbilled Raven. Technically there isn't a significant difference between species called crows, and species called ravens. They're all in the genus 'Corvus' - which also includes species called Rooks and Jackdaws.