This short article from Listverse doesn't begin to cover all the strange and wonderful talents in the bird, believe me! If any bird ever deserved more research, this guy is the one!
Raven
The raven is a huge, unnerving, and extremely intelligent bird, which can outperform eagles in the air and, on occasion, kill mammals as large as young sheep. Though they can be found almost worldwide, few people give much thought as to where they might fit into the evolutionary tree.
The answer may astound the amateur bird lover: rather than being allied with hawks or the vultures, ravens are actually the world’s largest member of the Sparrow order, Passeriformes. Though they have a wingspan of more than five feet, and an apparently hoarse voice, ravens actually have extremely well-developed vocal structures and can form a variety of surprisingly beautiful, high pitched notes. These “super songbirds” are also capable of extreme aerobatic maneuvers, and are one of the three most intelligent birds worldwide. It’s suspected that they’ve learned how to lead wolves to their prey, so that they can scavenge the kill later on.
If I had to chose just one member of the bird family to be on my team, this would be the one! Heck, even Poe wrote about this bird!
Coffee on the patio this morning. We'll share some peach cobbler, OK?
