Nature Done Wright

Raven expert Rick Radis will talk about the incredibly intelligent Common Raven at Friday night's Fyke meeting as Borough Hall.

The talk, free and open to the public, begins just after 8 p.m. at Allendale Borough Hall.

The Common Raven has the widest distribution of any of the Corvidae, the family that includes crows, jays, nutcrackers, and magpies.

It is also the largest and heaviest of the passerines, or perching birds — and the smartest.

(The raven in the photo above was plotting how to steal food from snowmobilers' packs in Yellowstone this winter.),

The presentation will cover the historic status of the Common Raven in eastern North America from the late 1880s, its remarkable return in the 1990s, and its present status as a nesting species in many (often surprising) areas of NJ, including Bergen County.

Since the early 1980s the population and perhaps the behavioral dynamics of the eastern Common Raven has begun to change.

Rick will explore the possible reasons as to why the Common Ravens have lost their shyness around humans and discuss how ravens interact with the other two species of corvids.

Allendale Borough Hall is at 500 E. Crescent Ave., Allendale.