Okay, it wasn't a very good pun by me. ?
The bird has probably been eaten or died of old age.
I wonder how long ravens live? I read that they have the IQ of a seven year old and can recognize human faces.
Corvids are very intelligent!
The brightest being crows and magpies. I guess ravens are high up there as well.
They do recognize faces. I can testify to that personally. The local magpies sure know who I am, I'm the biped who feed them cheese. (Birds are crazy about cheese, I can recommend it. Especially cheese used for pizza-toppings. Easy to eat and carry away for the small birds.) So it often happens they fly in and sit a few meters away: Got any cheese?
They couldn't care less about my wife and daughter.
Magpies also know what a gun is, or anything resembling a gun, like a stick. They go into hiding on the spot, otherwise you see them all over the place not being the least bit concerned about humans.
I have also seen magpies cooperate and outwit cats, dogs and gulls.
Crows have a tendency to go for the tail of a cat, driving it way that way. In return I've seen a cat try to lure a crow closer, using its tail as bait. The crow didn't fall for it.
I don't think wild Corvids are as intelligent as a seven year old, but they can certainly match a three year old, and the brightest appears to match the intelligence of a four or five year old.
Even more impressive, they tell their buddies about humans who are untrustworthy or trustworthy!
If you go for a walk then you can easily tell if the magpies really don't like you. Their warning calls will follow you. But you won't see them.
But the death-rate for magpie hatchlings is very high! They are very noisy and clingy to their parents once they have learned to fly, attracting attention.
They are fascinating to watch.
