15 Amazing Facts About 15 Birds

A common raven looking pretty pleased with itself.
A common raven looking pretty pleased with itself. / Andreas Saatze-Stein/500px/Getty Images
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1. Ravens are great at mimicking human speech and sounds.

A common raven.
A common raven. / Chase Dekker Wild-Life Images/Moment/Getty Images

While ravens in the wild are unlikely to pick up human language, in captivity they can become quite talkative. Some ravens are even better than parrots at mimicking human speech, not to mention sounds from the human world like car engines revving or toilets flushing. In the wild, meanwhile, ravens sometimes imitate other animals, mimicking predators like wolves or foxes to attract them to tasty carcasses they’re unable to break open on their own.