Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Ravens Use Memory, Not Wolf Shadowing, To Find Yellowstone Kill Hotspots

A Science study using GPS tracking over two and a half years shows the birds navigate toward predictable carcass zones created by wolf hunting success.

Overview

  • Researchers tracked 69 ravens with GPS and analyzed movements of 20 collared wolves across Yellowstone during winter-focused monitoring.
  • Prolonged following of wolves proved rare, with only one clear instance exceeding 1 kilometer or one hour over the entire study.
  • Many ravens repeatedly revisited historical kill hotspots, sometimes flying up to about 155 kilometers in a day along highly directional paths.
  • Wolf kills clustered in features such as flat valley bottoms, and nearly half of documented carcasses drew at least one raven within seven days.
  • Authors note ravens likely use short-range cues at local scales and call for follow-up work on how juveniles acquire these spatial patterns.