Bringing Legendary Birds back with Street Art

Thank you so much for the continued donations! There is still a ways to go to meet our goal, but I know enough people care about wildlife to support the cause. All we need now is enough to cover scaffolding!

The New Zealand Raven:

Crows and ravens are common where I grew up in Cascadia, but beyond continental North America, members of the corvid family are native all over the world. Aotearoa New Zealand had three subspecies of raven which evolved interdependence with other wildlife especially along coastlines. Like the Black-backed gull, they likely preyed upon nesting bird's eggs and chicks,snails,mussels, insects,skinks, and fruits before these ecosystems were disrupted by over hunting. Both the Chatham Islands raven and the Aotearoa New Zealand raven became extinct before Europeans started coming to these islands. Their remains have been found in middens along with other coastal birds. Most corvids are generalists, meaning they are adaptable to a variety of ecosystem and dietary pressures, but these birds faced pressures that ultimately lead to their extinction. Today there are no native corvids in Aotearoa New Zealand,but there are populations (some vulnerable to extinction) of corvids in other Pacific Islands. The alalā (Hawaiian crow) for example, is extinct in the wild. With only 114 individuals left, they may be extinct within this generation.

Let's keep ravens and crows common! Spread the word about lost and endangered corvids.