written by ONC naturalist/educator Raja Klingele
A corvid is a bird in the crow family, also known as the corvidae family. At the Ogden Nature Center, you may be familiar with our two corvid animal ambassadors, Cronk (a Common Raven) and Blackberry (an American Crow), but did you know that magpies and jays are also a part of the corvidae family?
In Utah, not only can you find American Crows and Common Ravens, but the Black-billed Magpie, Steller’s Jay, Scrub Jay, Canada Jay (or often known as the Gray Jay), Clarke’s Nutcracker, Pinyon Jay, and the Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay. They all reside in Utah and are all members of the corvidae family.
Corvids are relatively larger than other song birds, and experts say that corvids are as smart as a seven-year-old human child. That’s right—along with Parrots, (from the Psittacidae family and Psittacinae subfamily), corvids are the smartest birds on earth! They can use tools (the only non-primates, besides some parrots, to do so), solve complex problems, recognize human faces, and can actually mimic human speech and other sounds. For example, Cronk, the Common Raven at the Ogden Nature Center, can say words like “hi”, “wait”, and will occasionally say, “God bless you man.”
You’ll almost never see a corvid traveling alone, as they like to travel in groups and will even host “funerals” for their dead. Perhaps this is why Cronk is so social with visitors, staff and volunteers! Next time you visit the Nature Center, stop by and say "hi" to Cronk! He just might say "hi" right back at ya!
