Books have been written by the intelligence and culture of ravens. It’s extraordinary to be near these largest of the songbirds, listening to their hoarse chatter. 
They’ve certainly figured out how to live in urban areas. There’s both the wild, in this case duck eggs, and the domestic, in this case chicken eggs from Costco. 
After the end of the persecution that forced them into remote fastnesses, they’ve re-bounded, and expanded into non-traditional habitat. The first Common Raven nest sighting I know about in NYC was in Queens. On January 1st, 2015, a pair were cavorting down at the end of 39th Street here in Brooklyn (past the fence, it’s all bay until New Jersey), where I was ecstatic to see them.
The Sunset Park/Green-Wood corridor has been a raven runway since. In 2016, I saw a family of five from my windows. 
Yes, this one broke off this twig. Experiment/play. All the pictures here are from the encounter last week with a family of six
A.C. Bent, for instance, notes that they are to be found where “they are least likely to be disturbed.” He never met these city-slickers.
Backyard and Beyond 
We don’t have ravens out here in the Midwest, but we do have crows, which are another fine bird!
Very fine indeed!
Lovely shots.
Reblogged this on Wolf's Birding and Bonsai Blog.