Owl decoy proves futile
Resident surprised to find ravens nesting on roof despite multiple deterrents
Meagan Leonard
Northern News Services
Friday, April 3, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Infamous in Northern folklore for getting into mischief, a couple gutsy ravens seem to be poking fun at humans and their silly ways.
Ravens are currently nesting above Edith and Norm Mair's kitchen window. The birds do not appear intimidated by the owl decoy nor the chicken wire meant to deter them. - photo courtesy of Edith Mair |
The tricksters in question are currently roosting quite comfortably alongside an owl decoy meant to scare them - to the amusement of Edith and Norm Mair who own the residence.
Gazing out her kitchen window on the first day of spring, long-time Yellowknifer Edith noticed she had some new tenants occupying the awning outside. For the next few hours, she watched as two black shadows darted back and forth past the bay windows. When an array of sticks began to appear amid the chicken wire also meant to deter the birds, she was certain she was now playing host to a family of ravens.
"They did it in a day," she said. "We watched them coming and going with all these big twigs."
Not unkindly, the birds invited the false owl positioned on the awning into their nest, courteously building around it. Edith says they installed the decoy 20 years ago after ravens began congregating on their roof and picking at the tiles.
"I thought, 'Oh they'll have all the tiles off the roof so we'll try and distract them and put in (an) owl,'" she explained.
However, the plastic predator seems to have no effect on these particular ravens as they can be seen perching atop it as if to get a better view of the street below.
"He made friends with that plastic owl," Edith chuckles. "He just sits right on top of it like he's saying, 'I'm master of this place.'"
When Yellowknifer visited on Tuesday, she said she suspected there would be raven chicks within a few days and although she anticipates lots of noise, she's excited to see them.
"I'm looking forward to seeing the babies," she said. "It doesn't bother me at all, it's just an attraction."
Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley, a biologist and birder, said this type of behaviour is not unexpected in ravens who are incredibly cunning and adaptable.
"The raven is very intelligent ... so it doesn't take long typically to figure out a fake owl from a real owl," Bromley said. "They are so good at making use of the environment that if one would make a nice anchor for a nest, they wouldn't hesitate to do that."
Ranking alongside chimpanzees and dolphins in terms of intelligence, ravens imitate sounds and speech, make toys out of sticks and pine cones, gesture to communicate and demonstrate empathy to fellow ravens.
Traditionally they nest in pine trees or on cliff faces; however, Bromley says it is now quite common to see nests on buildings and telephone poles - and once a nest is established, the family can return to the same site for up to 40 years.
"There's one nest that used to be at Capital (Transit Mix business) and it was used 40 years in a row," he explained.
David Green is a professor of avian ecology at Simon Fraser University in B.C. and says ravens have long held a fascination in the birding community for their intelligence. He added many of the deterrents that work on other birds will be ineffective on ravens.
"Ravens are pretty smart so they would learn pretty quickly," he said. When told about the Mair's situation, he quipped, "I think basically the birds are winning - they'd be a tough one to trick."
