Some people find crows and ravens fascinating, while others find them beyond annoying, but there's no denying June Hunter's obsession with the black birds is catching on.

The Vancouver artist and photographer was snowshoeing in the North Shore mountains recently and came upon an unusual scene: two birds doing somersaults and rolling in the snow like puppies.

She captured the fun on video and posted it to social media where the ravens' high flying enthusiasm has attracted over one million views.

"I think there is just something about ravens being silly and having fun in the snow that is quite therapeutic for many of us, especially these days," Hunter said. Hunter said she was drawn to the unusual sounds the ravens were making.

"It just makes me happy to relate to that joy in a species that's different from you," she said. Hunter has been taking photographs of crows and ravens for over a decade. She used to sell the prints on Vancouver's Granville Island until the pandemic hit.

Marvin and Mavis are names Hunter has given to the crows that visit her home. The Mable family lives down the street and visit too.

The self-proclaimed PR person for the birds is frustrated the corvids sometimes get a bad rap, despite their intelligence. She wants to clear up the misconceptions some people have that the birds are simply grub-loving pests put on this earth to dig up lawns.

"If you start watching crows your life will be happier … because you'll be interested and you will feel more connected to the natural world, even if you're in the city. You'll naturally feel better."

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According to popular lore, the fates of both the Tower of London and the wider British kingdom are intrinsically linked with the presence of at least six ravens in the palatial, 1,000-year-old fortress. As a royal decree reportedly issued by 17th-century King Charles II warned, if the birds ever flee their London home, “the Tower itself will crumble to dust and a great harm will befall the kingdom.”

Luckily, there appears to be little chance of this dystopian vision becoming reality anytime soon: The Tower maintains a population of at least seven ravens (the corvid equivalent of “heir plus a spare”), and last week, officials announced the birth of four healthy chicks—the first hatched at the London stronghold since 1989, when the Tower welcomed a baby named Ronald Raven.

The Telegraph’s Jack Hardy notes that Tower staffers installed a new aviary last year in response to concerns over the declining number of legal raven breeders in the United Kingdom. Typically, Tower ravens are bred elsewhere and then brought to London. Of the seven corvids currently housed in the Tower, five were born in Somerset, one was born in Surrey, and one was born in South Wales.

“We decided that it would be a really good idea to see if we could actually breed ravens ourselves at the Tower of London to secure our future,” Tower Ravenmaster Chris Skaife explains in a video posted on Twitter.

Huginn and Muninn, the newborn chicks’ parents, arrived at the Tower aviary toward the end of 2018 but were not expected to be settled in time for the 2019 mating season. Skaife, however, started to suspect the pair had successfully bred after spotting a huge nest that appeared suddenly overnight. On April 23, St. George’s Day, he saw the birds bringing food to the nest, and a few weeks later, he was finally able to approach and assess the scene for himself.


According to a statement, the chicks eat at least once every two hours, feasting on a diet of quail, mice and rats procured by Skaife, prepared by their father Huginn, and passed along by their mother Muninn. All four are growing quickly, quadrupling in size from around 8 centimeters tall at birth to more than 30 centimeters last week. Although the baby ravens are beginning to develop their species’ characteristic black plumage, it will take another year or so for their beaks to become fully black. Come late summer, one of the four chicks, named George or Georgina in a nod to the day on which they hatched, will permanently join the seven ravens (not counting Huginn, Muninn and the newborns) currently in residence at the Tower. The remaining three, according to Metro's Kate Buck, will be placed under the care of a specialist breeder in Somerset.


Overall, Tower ravens tend to live longer than those in the wild. According to Historic Royal Palaces, the charity tasked with overseeing the Tower and other national landmarks, one corvid lived from 1884 to 1928—an astounding 44 years. Today, the ravens enjoy a diet of fresh raw meat, a once-weekly egg treat and the occasional rabbit.

In a press release, the ravenmaster—author of a 2018 autobiography detailing his singular occupation—concludes, “Having worked with the ravens here at the Tower for the last thirteen years and getting to know each of them, I feel like a proud father.”
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Say hello to our new baby ravens at the Tower of London 👋 These four little chicks are the first to be born here in 30 years. Legend tells us that should the ravens ever leave, the Tower will fall. Now, our future is secured and Chris Skaife @ravenmaster1 is one happy Dad! pic.twitter.com/BirBqM1Oiw

— The Tower of London (@TowerOfLondon) May 17, 2019

A picturesque view of the San Francisco Bay was suddenly interrupted by a giant bird on Friday.

KTVU's Mark Tamayo was delivering the weather forecast in front of a live shot of the city when out of nowhere a bird's beak appeared. He then peered all the way down from above and looked directly into the camera.

Fearing for his life, Tamayo backed away from the green screen, and the bird — seemingly bored with the weather forecast — left the shot shortly after.

"The camera itself told a great story - to talk about the fog in the Friday forecast. All of a sudden I see a head looking down like a curious character looking to see what's up. I just didn't know what to say," said Mark.

Mark said a few months back a bird flew into his shot which left him a little rattled so he knew this was his chance to maintain his composure. Mark calmly stepped off to the side to see what would play out. "The bird didn't seem shy at all - you almost felt like you were getting to know him from a few seconds," he said.

Mark was thinking he would need more time for the segment and even said that - that's when his producer Chris Clough let him know that would be no problem. "We were all so shocked in the control room, everyone thought the bird would hang around, I was like 'take as much time as you need,'" said Chris.


"The bird was so poised - and the backdrop was dramatic. I decided to step out of the shot so the bird could get the attention it deserved. It just seemed to be confident sitting there... it was just the perfect combination of elements with the location, backdrop, and timing and the bird was just calm, cool and collected."


Mark says now whenever he takes that camera in his forecast, he'll be keeping an eye out for his new friend.

This is the moment a pair of polite talking ravens greeted stunned tourists with a cheery 'hello' at a medieval castle.

The birds can be heard asking 'what's the matter?' and 'what are you looking for' to surprised visitors at Knaresborough Castle where they have been kept since 1999.

There are eight ravens at the North Yorkshire castle and most of them will talk to tourists at the ruined fortress which overlooks the River Nidd.

Like other members of the crow family, ravens have been shown to possess surprising intelligence and linguistic ability.

The hilarious video is going viral online but it is not the first time that the Knaresborough birds have attracted attention.

In late 2015 one of the ravens named Izzie was stopped from flying free after repeatedly stealing phones and cameras from visitors.


She also pinched golf balls and even a baby's dummy - as well as mimicking foul-mouthed phrases, the Mirror reported.

Igraine Hustwitt Skelton, Her Majesty's Keeper of Castle Ravens, said at the time: 'It started to be a problem when people were taking photos of her.


'She would fly towards them and sit on their shoulders but then she started taking things.

'Now she's taken to nicking cameras and mobile phones and using her beak to take selfies.'

Qualicum, White Raven Capital of the World There is little doubt that Qualicum is the White Raven Capital of the World, and just to prove the point, another White Raven was recently added to the family.

Photographer stopped by the woods close to the Qualicum Civic Centre and was lucky enough to photograph the latest white, blue-eyed offspring. According to a town worker there was only one White Raven seen this year.

White Ravens are extremely rare all over the world except in Qualicum. Some say it's the water. Others claim it is the pure Island air.

Albinism and leucism are known phenomena in nature. In simple terms these are genetic that affect the pigmentation of the cells in animals. If the animal lacks all pigmentation and has pink eyes, it is an albino. If it lacks pigmentation in only some parts and doesn't have pink eyes, it is leucistic.

The situation usually arises when two black Common Ravens with the same genetic mate. However, since they are monogamus and long-lived, there is no reason why they can't produce successive generations of White Ravens. This definitely seems to be the case in the Qualicum area.


White Ravens have been reported for well over a decade. A golfer at nearby Morningstar golf course phoned to say he once saw four White Ravens on the same branch of tree. Another golfer phoned to tell about a White Raven mated to a black raven and the produced mottled brown offspring.


The White Raven is held in high regard by many native cultures and has special spiritual significance. Several native legends credit the White Raven for bringing light to the world by freeing the sun, moon, and stars which were locked away by an evil being.


In the course of its heroic deed White Raven was turned to black. The occasional sighting of a White Raven now is meant to remind people of how the world was saved for all mankind and animals of creation.


There is also a belief that the sighting of a White Raven signifies the impending end of the world. With all the wars, riots, and environmental destruction, that might not be too far from the truth.

Ravens are well-known for their intelligence, they are also very playful birds, performing mid-air acrobatics, playing 'games' with each other's beaks and passing "things" to each other.

Pairs stay together for life, and defend a territory from which they exclude all other ravens. Breeding begins in February or March.

Following a mating display involving posturing, mutual preening and beak caressing, the pair make a solid nest (or renovate the previous year's nest) of sticks lined with moss and mud.

Clutches contain four to six blue-green eggs, one of which is laid each day until the clutch is complete. The female incubates the eggs for up to 20 days, during which time she is fed by the male. Both parents feed the chicks, which stay in the nest for up to six and a half weeks.

Ravens do not tend to travel widely; during winter adults remain in their breeding territory, and young birds do not tend to disperse further away than 20 miles.

Male and female ravens pair for life and lay up to six blue-green eggs per clutch.