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Ravens have inspired fear as well as reverence and respect as Brett Westwood discovers when he dips into Norse mythology, meets an individual bird and listens to a roost at night.

Our relationship with ravens can be traced back many thousands of years. According to Norse mythology the god Odin had two ravens named Huginn (meaning ‘thought’) and Munnin (meaning ‘memory’). He would send them out each day to fly around the world and then return to perch on his shoulders and tell him of what they had seen and heard. With its black colouration, croaking calls and diet of carrion, the raven has long been considered a bird of ill omen , but this over-simplifies our relationship with these highly successful birds as Brett Westwood discovers when he eavesdrops on their conversations at night, meets a man who has reared a raven and talks to a scientist who has long been fascinated by their powers of intelligence. Ravens are more like us than you might like to think. Producer: Sarah Blunt

28 minutes

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