Northern Raven

The common, or northern, raven is a large all-black passerine, the most widely distributed of all corvids, and one of the two largest corvids and the heaviest passerine: on average 63 cm long and 1.47 kg, up to 2 kg in the heaviest individuals. The bill is large and slightly curved, the tail longish and strongly graduated, the plumage mostly iridescent black and the iris dark brown. Birds from colder regions such as the Himalaya are generally larger with slightly larger bills, and a population sometimes called the Punjab raven occurs in Sindh, Pakistan and adjoining north-western India (Wikipedia, general species account).

Young birds may travel in flocks but later mate for life, with each pair defending a territory. Its success is partly due to a versatile, opportunistic omnivorous diet of carrion, insects, cereal grains, berries, fruit, small animals, nesting birds and food waste. Incubation lasts about 18 to 21 days, by the female only. SoIB 2023 rates it a Low conservation priority, a resident and altitudinal migrant of open habitat with a Moderate range of about 122,000 km² and insufficient data on trends (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).