A Very Intelligent Bird: Common Raven at Yosemite National Park

 

It's hard to imagine a more ubiquitous bird at my favorite national parks than the Common Raven (Corvus corax). No matter how harsh the climate, the bird has found a way to adapt. In the driest climate in the American West, Death Valley, the Raven has often been the only bird present. I've seen them in practically every environment I've explored. The birds have thrived alongside humans and are considered pests in a few quarters, but I've always admired their intelligence and creativity.

I was at Yosemite National Park this weekend and I saw dozens of them, but one stood out, the star in the picture above. It was at the edge of a meadow below El Capitan, and it allowed me to get some close shots before I realized it could care less about me and Mrs. Geotripper, because it turned out we were standing in front of a fast-food bag someone had left next to their car. As we moved on, the bird jumped down and started to work on the folded-up bag. It really wanted to know what was inside.

Photo by Mrs. Geotripper

Instead of just tearing it open, the bird used its beak and foot to unfold the top. It started to remove and inspect the trash within one piece at a time, but it felt uncomfortable putting its head all the way in for the deepest bits. Once again, instead of tearing it open, it simply grabbed a corner with its beak, and turned the bag upside down, spilling the contents. It scored a banana peel and one or two fries for its trouble. The bird displayed a rather organized approach to getting to its goal.

Some would insist the bird was spreading garbage about, but really, the humans had done the garbage spreading. It was just making sure that none of the food inside was going to waste...

Bow to Your Reptilian Overlords! Oh, Maybe Not Quite Yet...

The desert is filled with creatures that are dangerous and terrifying in their ways. Life is tough, and in short, everything that lives there is eating everything else, and everything else is trying not to be eaten. Life has evolved a huge variety of defensive adaptations, including spikes, spines, tough shells or out layers, poisons, and many others. We were in Death Valley last weekend, and early one morning I seemed to have discovered a terrifying new creature, one whose claws look almost dinosaurian.

Those terrifying claws actually are dinosaurs, although of the avian kind. Few birds were out and about during our visit, but the Common Raven (Corvus corax) was a constant presence. That they thrive in this harsh and barren world is a testament to their versatility and intelligence. If I had to predict the species that would evolve into the dominant organism in terrestrial environments after the humans obliterate themselves, my money is on the raven. Like humans, they are curious, they are opportunistic omnivores, they are toolmakers, and they are problem solvers. And they can live in a shocking range of environments from the icy shores of Arctic Canada, Alaska and Greenland, to the driest and hottest deserts of the American West. Their range extends into the rainforests of Central America.

Their black color sometimes makes them hard to photograph, but in a desert setting like Death Valley, it becomes more of a goal to place them within dramatic landscapes. From our camp at Stovepipe Wells, we had a beautiful morning view of the Cottonwood Mountains. A pair of ravens were flying in the distance.

Our last 24 hours in Death Valley National Park involved a violent windstorm. It briefly subsided while we packed to go home, but the wind started up again, and the dust storm rose over the Mesquite Dunes in the distance. A Raven seemed to be heading out to investigate...because that's just what our future overlords would be doing.