Police investigate as raven found poisoned on Ruabon moor – near where satellite-tagged hen harriers vanished last year

Published: Saturday, Jun 1st, 2019

A dead raven found on Ruabon Moor, near World’s End, has been confirmed as deliberately poisoned – triggering a police investigation.

The bird was found dead on 28 August 2018 by a man who had been out photographing birds.

He said: “I was coming home from Wrexham when I noticed the bird on the ground, away from the road in a little clearing of grass. It was upside down, its eyes sunken, and its feet in the air. It didn’t look like it had been dead for long.”

Thinking it may have been shot, he contacted the RSPB’s Investigations Unit. Following liaison with the North Wales Police, Welsh Government arranged for toxicology tests on the bird. This revealed that the raven had been deliberately poisoned with the highly toxic insecticide bendiocarb which had been most likely been applied to a bait.

Police enquires in the area have failed to identify anyone responsible.

Ravens are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Killing one is a criminal offence and could result in an unlimited fine or up to six months in jail.

Ruabon Moor holds a significant proportion of the Welsh black grouse population and is an area managed for red grouse shooting. In 2018, two rare hen harriers named Heulwen and Aalin went off the radar in this general area, the birds had been fitted with satellite-tracking devices as part of the EU-funded Hen Harrier LIFE project.

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Shot and decapitated raven found near Delamere Forest

16th May

By Josh Pennington 

A PROTECTED raven has been found illegally shot near Delamere Forest, triggering a police investigation.

The bird was found in a field by a man walking his dog along the edge of the forest.

The bird had no head but had no other injuries.

He contacted the RSPB’s Investigations unit for advice, and they arranged for the bird to be collected and x-rayed.

The x-ray revealed as many as nine pieces of shot in the raven’s body. The cause of the bird’s missing head however is not known.

Cheshire Police carried out detailed enquiries, including conducting a search of the area and speaking to local farmers.

However, no leads were uncovered.

The public are now being called on to step forward with any information which may help identify the culprit.

Jenny Shelton, from the RSPB’s Investigations Unit, says: “The countryside is somewhere we should all be able to enjoy, and our incredible birds and wildlife are part of what makes places like Delamere Forest so special.

“Raven populations are starting to recover in the UK following centuries of persecution and superstition. These magnificent birds are protected by UK law, yet this is the latest in a growing number of ravens which have been illegally killed in recent months.

“The persecution of ravens and birds of prey is a serious issue, and much more common than many of us might think.

"It’s incredibly difficult to uncover the culprits in cases like these, and you wonder how many other birds have been illegally shot which we don’t hear about.

"We would like to thank Avian Veterinary Services and Cheshire Police for their help and hard work.”

Ravens and birds of prey are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

To kill or injure one is a criminal offence and could result in an unlimited fine or up to six months in jail.

PC Gerard Gigg of Cheshire Police said: “Can members of the community, when they witness any crime involving wildlife or indeed any other suspicious activity, report it immediately by calling 101, or 999 if the crime is ongoing.”

If you have any information relating to this incident, which occurred around 23 March 2019, call 101, ask for Cheshire Police and quote reference number: 19100137950.

If you find a wild bird of prey which you suspect has been illegally killed, contact RSPB investigations on 01767 680551 or fill in the online form: https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/our-positions-and-campaigns/positions/wildbirdslaw/reportform.aspx

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‘It’s just not a raven’: Possible mistaken identity could give bird a chance at new life

Mortimer the raven was saved by a Saskatoon woman. But provincial rules say the woman’s act is illegal and she could be charged.

Ashley Field, Video Journalist

Published Friday, December 14, 2018 5:06PM CST
Last Updated Saturday, December 15, 2018 2:11PM CST

A Saskatoon woman who has been fighting to hold onto an injured bird she nursed back to health may have caught a break after some confusion as to whether the bird is a raven or a crow.

Last month, Evangeline Mackinnon found the bird with a broken wing.

Mackinnon welcomed the bird into her home, named it Mortimer and has been nursing the bird back to health.

“It was either kids were going to find him, or a cat was going to get him. It was inevitable that he wasn’t going to have a very long life,” she said.

Mackinnon initially thought that Mortimer was a raven, but now some American researchers are saying that’s not the case.

‘It’s just not a raven’

Kaeli Swift, a Corvid Scientist at the University of Washington has studied crows for a decade, and had been following Mortimer’s story.

“It was immediately clear to me that it’s not a raven, it’s an American Crow,” said Swift

After seeing pictures and videos of the bird, Swift was convinced that Mortimer is not a raven.

“One of the really distinctive features of ravens is that they have these special throat feathers called ‘hackles’. They’re these really coarse feathers and they use these feathers in a variety of behavioral displays and communication. Crows don’t have them. They’re throat feathers are much more typical bird throat feathers, where they’re really fine and smooth,” said Swift. “So in terms of a really nice clear objective field mark, that’s probably the best one.”

Jennifer Campbell-Smith, a Corvid Scientist with a PhD studying crows at Binghamton University in New York, also believes that Mortimer is a crow.

“It’s 100 per cent a crow not a raven,” said Campbell-Smith.

She also noted Mortimer’s featherless throat and slender build make her confident that he is a crow.

Ravens are a ‘protected’ bird in Saskatchewan

After she found him, Mackinnon took Mortimer to a wildlife veterinarian, who told her the wing was permanently damaged and couldn’t be rehabilitated – so Mortimer would have to be put down.

Read on 

Police investigation launched after red kites found dead

17th January

Pete Hughes

A POLICE investigation has been launched after five red kites, a raven and a buzzard were discovered dead in a village in Oxfordshire.

The birds were discovered by a family on Sunday, September 17, near the village of Pyrton, on the edge of the Chilterns, who reported them to the RSPB.

All the birds were recovered and X-rayed by a local vet. The X-rays revealed no signs of shot.

However, the birds have now been sent off for toxicology testing by Natural England as part of the Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme (WIIS), to see if the birds have been poisoned.

All birds of prey and ravens are protected by UK law, making it illegal to kill or harm them. Those found to have done so could face six months in jail or an unlimited fine.

Thames Valley Police, Natural England and RSPB are now working together on a joint investigation and are appealing to the public for information.

If you have any information relating to this incident, call Thames Valley Police on 101.

With their six-foot wingspan, red kites are Britain’s third-largest bird of prey and feed mainly on carrion.

If you find a wild bird which you suspect has been illegally killed, contact RSPB Investigations on 01767 680551, email crime@rspb.org.uk or fill in the online form: https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/our-positions-and-campaigns/positions/wildbirdslaw/reportform.aspx

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Amazing footage shows raven patiently letting a woman pull huge porcupine spikes out of his face

Gertie Cleary found injured bird in Nova Scotia, Canada, and tries to help

Bird screeched and tried to bite her as she took spikes out face and wing

Daughter filmed removal and video now has two million views on YouTube

Family nursed the injured bird back to health feeding it tuna and dog food 

By JAMES DUNN FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 09:22, 7 December 2015 | UPDATED: 15:32, 7 December 2015

This amazing footage shows a raven perching patiently on a ledge as a woman pulls out painful porcupine spikes.

Gertie Cleary comes to the rescue of the distressed bird in Nova Scotia, Canada, when she finds it with three quills in its face and another in its wing.

The huge raven tries to bite her hand and screeches at her, but the patient mother manages to remove the spikes as the crow sits on the fence.

Mum comes to the rescue of wild raven in need of help

Gertie Cleary comes to the rescue of the distressed bird in Nova Scotia, Canada, when she finds it with three quills in its face and another in its wing

The raven, which the family later named Wilfred when nursing him back to health, lets her take the first and the second quill out of his face with little bother but starts screeching and trying to bite her on the third

Mrs Cleary said: 'It reminded me of a child with a splinter and when you pull a splinter out they holler and screech and pull their hand away,' reports CNN.

The footage, filmed by her daughter, shows Gertie carefully approaching the raven wearing gloves and moving her hand slowly towards the spikes.

The raven, which the family later named Wilfred when nursing him back to health, lets her take the first and the second quill out of his face with little bother.

But after getting a taste of the painful process it screeches and tries to bite her as she reaches for the third spike in the video, which has now been viewed more than two million times on YouTube.

Mrs Cleary persists, using her other hand to distract Wilfred on the right of the screen, before finally extracting the final spike

But Mrs Cleary persists, using her other hand to distract Wilfred on the right of the screen, before finally extracting the last two spikes.

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Amazing! This Isn't Your Average Talking Bird! Wait Until You Hear This Raven Speak!

Mischief the African raven has been taught how to say two very distinct words in two very distinct ways! I had no idea these birds could be taught how to speak, let alone repeat words so amazingly! This raven is just like a parrot!

Ravens are known for their intelligence and playfulness, and even though they get a bad rap on TV, they’re actually really friendly birds. And as you can see from this video, they can learn things quite fast, and are excellent mimics!


Read more at 

Political ravens? Ravens understand the relationships among others

Date:

April 23, 2014

Source:

University of Vienna

Summary:

Cognitive biologists have revealed that ravens do understand and keep track of the rank relations between other ravens. Such an ability has been known only from primates. Like many social mammals, ravens form different types of social relationships -- they may be friends, kin, or partners and they also form strict dominance relations. From a cognitive perspective, understanding one's own relationships to others is a key ability in daily social life ("knowing who is nice or not"). Yet, also understanding the relationships group members have with each other sets the stage for "political" maneuvers ("knowing who might support whom").

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The inky-black raven – an apposite omen for Britain today

Philip Hoare

The Guardian, Monday 28 October 2013

A fox has killed two Tower of London ravens, taking the kingdom dangerously close to ruin, despair – and yet another cull

Forget the apocalyptic storm. We've got worse things to worry about. A fox has killed and eaten two of the ravens at the Tower of London, reducing the birds' population from eight to six, thus bringing us dangerously close to under a half-dozen which, if breached - as Charles II decreed - the kingdom would collapse into ruin and despair.

The incident, which has only just been made public, has been headlined as "rocking the future of the monarchy". I don't wonder that, in the wake of the botched slaughter of badgers, this latest outrage will spark a new cull of the apparently much hated, baby-smothering urban fox – although they are guilty of little more than rooting through our bins like freegan raiders.

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Cal woman hides bird rather than give to state

PALMDALE, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California woman sent a raven into hiding rather than let fish and game officials seize and kill the bird named Edgar.

"The state game warden threatened me with a misdemeanor citation and said Edgar would have to be euthanized," said Debby Porter, 59, who lives in Palmdale, 50 miles north of Los Angeles. "A misdemeanor doesn't mean that much to me, but I don't want Edgar euthanized."

Porter bought Edgar for $2,000 in 2006 in Alabama and raised him by hand at her Palmdale home where she's built two elaborate aviaries for blind or injured crows and ravens.

Keeping Edgar and the 20 other birds violates the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, wildlife officials told the Los Angeles Times.

On Aug. 29, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents took 20 birds, but left Edgar behind, saying he was an African pied-crow and brown-necked raven hybrid, not a North American migratory bird.

It wasn't long before the California Department of Fish and Game told her she had to turn over Edgar because she didn't have a permit to keep him.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Cal-woman-hides-bird-rather-than-give-to-state-4125020.php#ixzz2FPLXferX