The reason for the Ravens in my yard...

It seems a raven couple has nested somewhere in my yard or really close by. They natter at us every time we leave the house. Yesterday I saw why:

I guess it might have been blinking? I seem to remember that birds have three eyelids...

As shown here

http://web.me.com …s/Birds_Eye_Vie​ws.html#23

Interesting - thanks for the link! Yes, it looks as if he is blinking in the 2nd shot. But the first clearly shows a black centre, like the eye was in the process of changing colour.

A couple of interesting shots. He certainly looks like an old scraggy bird. I wouldn't fancy trying to eat him...

He's young, maybe 5-6 weeks. Best pet I ever had was a crow I got when he jumped or was pushed out of the nest. Too young to make it on his own. He was part of the family, having coffee and pancakes in the morning, just like the rest of us.

I bow to greater knowledge..

canonloader wrote in post #8195696
He's young, maybe 5-6 weeks. Best pet I ever had was a crow I got when he jumped or was pushed out of the nest. Too young to make it on his own. He was part of the family, having coffee and pancakes in the morning, just like the rest of us.

I don't think his parents will let me get close enough to feed him pancakes! LOL Only 5 or 6 weeks, eh? I figured he was young, but I know nothing about birds. (I keep taking pics of them, however - so I should learn!)

Here are his parents:
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=715913

You can always tell a young bird by the soft looking skin at the corners of their lips. Small birds it's yellow, these guys, it looks red, but all juvies have it. If those parents are permanent residents, you might get them tamed by putting out some small dry dog food in the same place every day and see if they take it. Once they start, it's possible to tame them, in the sense they are wild, but will come to you. They are very smart birds and enjoy the easy life as much as we do. They can also learn to talk.

I particularly like the first shot... great find. One other thing about the young raven...not only do they have the pink lip curl, their eyes are blue and eventually turn color in the adult stage.

db

canonloader wrote in post #8195912
You can always tell a young bird by the soft looking skin at the corners of their lips. Small birds it's yellow, these guys, it looks red, but all juvies have it. If those parents are permanent residents, you might get them tamed by putting out some small dry dog food in the same place every day and see if they take it. Once they start, it's possible to tame them, in the sense they are wild, but will come to you. They are very smart birds and enjoy the easy life as much as we do. They can also learn to talk.

Cool! I'm going to try the dog food and see what happens.

Good luck. Crows are a lot of fun to have around. A bird with a sense of humor.

I have a male and female Raven that have been around for months, they just brought the young birds over and the 2 of them are larger than the parents. They are still being fed by the parents, but are picking up any spilled corn or peanuts by themselves. The mother is the one that jumps up on my lap to take peanuts. Her favorite food is peanut butter. They have me trained, but I'm starting to ween them all now as they are waking me up every morning early, crying for their breakfast. I have one raven that shows up, and it trys to say peanut. Mitch told me they can learn to talk, so I was working on this one. It's way too funny to hear him. Ravens are great birds to have around, except when you need your sleep...heh...heh.

That's great to hear Steve. I really miss my old friend and I am at a time in my life that I could have another, but can't find one here.