Weird News - Ravens in Alaska in flying 'memorial'

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Ravens in Alaska in flying 'memorial'

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (UPI) -- Hundreds of ravens held what looked like a flying memorial for two of their own, electrocuted while roosting on a transformer in Alaska, witnesses say.

After the two birds were killed, hundreds of ravens began circling silently above and perching in trees nearby, the Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner reported.

"I walked out there and there were all these birds just circling. There were ravens in all the trees. It was weird. They said their respects and moved on," Rod Stephens, owner of nearby Rod's Saw Shop, said.

Another witness saw "a vortex of ravens circling."

"I could see them a half-mile away," said Ben Brees, a computer technician. "It was a funnel of black birds. I pulled up to the building right as they were circling."

A biologist at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Fairbanks said it's not unusual for ravens to be electrocuted.

"They're the same size as a lot of raptors that we know get electrocuted on a regular basis, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if ravens get electrocuted on a pretty regular basis," he said.

The big black birds have big brains compared with other bird species and are known for their problem-solving abilities. They also eat carrion.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

This news arrived on: 11/24/2009

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Posted Comments:

11-27-2009 09:16

Indian Ed wrote:

Ravens in Alaska

I am Raven clan and I must take exception to the last sentence in this item. Quote, "They also eat carrion". If the darned airlines didn't charge extra for carryon, we wouldn't have to eat it.