Corvid Trivia Quiz!

Sometimes the internet betrays us, like the time it told everyone that rail chick was a baby crow. This is a baby crow. It's cute too!

Although the first 4 years of a crow's life are pretty dangerous, if they can live past this point, many will go one to live another 10-15 years. The oldest documented wild crow was 29.5.

Although corvids are one of the primary hosts for WNV, there's no evidence you can contract the virus from touching live or dead crows according to the CDC. It's always a good idea, however, to use gloves when handling live or dead wild animals.

Although wild populations of the 'Alala have been extripated due to habitat loss, predation by invasives, and the spread of toxoplamosis, captive breeding programs in Hawaii and at the San Diego Zoo have been successful.

According to legend, if the 6 ravens of the Tower leave, the monarchy will fall. Although the beginning of this tradition is disputed, most stories say it was Charles II that insisted the ravens be protected. Some ravens have even taken after the tour guides in reminding visitors to 'keep to the path!' using their excellent mimicry skills.

Geez, someone really had it out to besmirch the good name of house raven when they came up with that. Although this term is more colloquial than it is scientific, technically this is the name for their collective noun.

As far as we know, no individual or species of corvid have ever intentionally decorated themselves. The colored bands applied by researchers are probably the closest they'll ever get.

A New Caledonian crow nicknamed '007, successfully completed an 8 (sequential) step puzzle to obtain a treat.

Although pet corvids were common in the 50's, once they were added to the migratory bird treaty act it became illegal to keep them as pets without proper permitting. My friend in the photo has such permitting, and uses her pair for educational outreach.

That's a lot of corvids to love!

There are 22 species that are considered endangered including the Hawaiian crow, the Mariana crow and the Taiwan blue magpie.

Jimmy the raven, known for his roles in movies like It's a Wonderful Life, was given this award in honor of his 200 hours spent entertaining the troops after World War II.

After training crows and ravens to exchange tokens for treats, researchers at the University of Vienna allowed individuals to watch their cagemates get a better reward for doing the same task. The corvids said 'no way madam' and some simply stopped doing the work.