Ravenbirds are medium-sized to very large songbirds with mostly strong beaks and robust physiques, which have colonized a variety of different habitats in the course of their development history and are common worldwide with the exception of southern South America and Antarctica.
Raven birds are very versatile in their diet and - depending on availability - eat fruits, seeds, insects, molluscs, smaller vertebrates or carrion, with most of the food being ingested on the ground. Almost all species create stocks in which they hide excess food and store it for later. Raven birds show strong social behavior and above-average cognitive abilities compared to almost all other birds. Some species, especially the ravens and crows, are distinctive cultural followers and have successfully established themselves in man-made habitats. The intelligence and language skills of the raven birds, but also their capacity as carrion and crop killers, led to an ambivalent role in many cultures worldwide: on the one hand, they were assumed to be wisdom, biblical age and wit, on the other hand they were persecuted as malevolent and pests.
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