Cool Critters: The whip-smart raven does a lot more than just quoth, ‘Nevermore’

Edgar Allan Poe never lived in the Inland Northwest, but the jet-black bird he featured in his famous poem sure does.

The common raven, with its hulking, goth-like appearance and croaking voice, can be seen perched on woody shrubs in the Yakima Valley, soaring above trees in the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge and patrolling grocery-store parking lots in Spokane County.

The world’s largest songbird, it has an enormous range across the Northern Hemisphere, ranging from deserts and beaches to city parks and the Arctic tundra.

That’s because ravens are remarkably intelligent and adaptable, said ornithologist John Marzluff, professor emeritus of wildlife sciences at the University of Washington.

“Ravens are good problem solvers and careful observers. They are also one of a few species, including apes and humans, that use tools,” said Marzluff, author of the book “In the Company of Crows and Ravens.”

That’s right. When it comes to ravens, the term “birdbrain” is an all-out compliment. Multiple scientific studies have found that corvids – the family of birds that includes ravens and crows – are among the smartest birds in the world, according to Marzluff.

So it is no surprise that ravens are also talented mimics, copying sounds ranging from dripping water, gurgles and knocks to calls of other bird species. They even imitate words spoken by humans.

“Ravens raised in captivity can be taught to mimic human words,” Marzluff explained. Some have even learned to say “nevermore,” he added.

For real.

Which brings us back to Poe’s famous poem. In “The Raven,” a raven enters the grieving narrator’s home at night, repeatedly uttering the word “nevermore.”

Poe penned the literary piece in New York City in 1844. Even then, it was well known that parrots talk, but presumably not so with ravens. Is it possible, then, that Poe knew about ravenspeak when he wrote his poem?

“Yes, I believe he did know,” Marzluff said.

In the northeastern United States during the 1800s, it was common for ravens to be kept in breweries and taverns to eat the mice.

“It was there that Poe probably observed the birds’ behaviors and heard them mimic the birdkeepers’ words,” Marzluff said.

Besides being able to speak, ravens are the size of a red-tailed hawk and covered in pitch-black plumage, which probably also contributed to Poe’s choice of bird. What’s more, since ravens feed on carrion, they are often associated with death in folklore.

Poe likely used a raven knowing it would fuel a sense of darkness and dread. Fat chance that a parrot – with its dazzling reds, yellows and greens, and high-pitched “Polly want a cracker!” – could convey a foreboding tone.

Even if Poe was directly acquainted with ravens, he may have had trouble distinguishing them from crows when he was outdoors. After all, both species are smart, loudly talkative and dress in total black. Nonetheless, there are key ways to tell them apart, Marzluff said.

For one, ravens are considerably larger than crows and sport a more prominent beak.

“A raven is a beak with a bird; a crow is a bird with a beak,” he explained.

Also, where the common raven soars like a hawk with a wedge-shaped tail, the American crow flaps steadily and displays a more square-shaped tail. The two also move differently on land.

“Ravens walk in a lordly manner. Meanwhiles, crows hop frenetically,” Marzluff said.

And finally, listening to their calls is an easy way to tell them apart. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology describes the difference this way: “Crows make a ‘caw caw’ sound, while ravens make a deep ‘grunk’ sound.”

Ah, Poe was clever indeed. Not only did he feature a talking raven instead of a parrot in his poem, but he had the raven utter “nevermore” instead of “grunk.”