Scientists Thought Ravens Followed Wolves for Food. They Were Wrong. Ravens Predict Them

Note: I wasn't sure where to put this, so if it's in the wrong place, let me know.

Tibi Puiu
July 2, 2026

A new study suggests that is only a small part of the story. By tracking ravens, wolves, and cougars across Yellowstone for two and a half years, researchers found that ravens rarely followed wolves over long distances. Instead, the birds returned again and again to areas where wolf kills were more likely to happen.

The findings suggest that ravens use their particularly remarkable memory and navigation to search for carrion across vast landscapes. Rather than acting as passive followers of predators, they appear to build a mental map of where predation is most likely to happen, and subsequently provide them with food.

“They can fly six hours non-stop, straight to a kill site,” said Dr. Matthias Loretto, the study’s first author.

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Researchers found that ravens were not usually tailing predators across the landscape. Instead, they seemed to remember where carcasses tended to cluster in their vicinity and returned to these regularly. The birds were so good at this that when they appear at a kill site, it almost seems like clockwork.

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https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/animals-ecology/ravens-predict-wolves/