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Art by Barry Kent MacKay

(Artwork - 249)
Common Raven (Corvus corax)

The Common Raven, also known as the Northern Raven (Corvus corax) is tied with Africa’s Thick-billed Raven (C. crassirostris) as the world’s largest species of songbird and is often considered to probably be the most intelligent of any bird species, or at least tied for that distinction with other members of the genus, Corvus. They also have an enormous range across much of the northern hemisphere, north to above the arctic circle and south into the tropics and subtropics of the Americas, Africa and Asia.

Therefore, Common Ravens inhabit a wide range of habitats and since they are not particularly migratory (and one of the few bird species to be found above the arctic circle even in winter) they have diverged into about a dozen distinctive geographic variations. I have shown C. c. principalis, found throughout most of North America. But therein lies a mystery from my youth. I live in the Greater Toronto Area, between the boreal forests of the Precambrian Shield, just a few hundred kilometers to the north, and the Appalachian Mountains, just a few hundred kilometers to the south and east, as the raven flies. But while ravens were common in both those regions, we had no ravens where I lived. I saw my first, as a child, when my parents drove me north into the forests just a few hundred kilometers away.

Now we do. They have filled the gap and moved into my area, still far from abundant but the day I started this painting, late last year, two flew over my head as I was thinking about my painting while I filled my garden bird feeders. I looked up when I heard them call. I chose to deem their appearance to be a good omen. The ranges of mobile species of wildlife, when not restricted by geographical barriers which are inimical to their survival, can be fluid, amoebic, and I guess ravens had just not reached us back then but finally have done so. Their low croaking call, very different from that of crows, is oddly pleasing to me…I am not sure why. Maybe it is just because I am so fond of them.

I’m often asked if I use photos for reference. Yes, but never to copy…or almost never. But years ago, in central British Columbia, I was photographing some ravens and when I looked in my viewfinder, zoomed in on a nearby raven, I was literally taken aback by how full his throat (characterized by long, narrow plumes and a heavy fullness) and the distinctive double crest, like eyebrows, rarely seen, were so apparent. I snapped the photo, just getting head and shoulders, but I was so impressed that I have almost exactly copied it, drawing in the rest of the bird using, as I usually do, a preserved specimen, numerous photos, and sketches for reference.

This painting, which took months to do, is life size, and is 38 by 26 inches, in oils, on wood. Ravens mate for life and I have shown the female above her mate.

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