Now class, you should all study diligently like Johnny here. Ravens and their smaller cousins, crows, are among the smartest birds. Not only can they untie knots, they can also unzip zippers and unfasten velcro. Ravens have a highly sophisticated language with hundreds of distinct sounds. They are highly social birds, who mate for life and play complex games with each other.
Ravens are the largest perching birds.
They live all around the northern hemisphere, from tropical jungles to the snowy wastes of the high Arctic. Their high intelligence and endurance give them the ability to adapt to many conditions and eat a wide variety of foods. For years ravens were thought of as pests in the United States. They were seen as thieves of eggs and small barnyard animals, and shot on sight. Their numbers declined steadily until recently, but now they are recovering across the western and northern states, learning to coexist with the humans who were once their main enemy.