Colophon

The animal on the cover of Complete Web Monitoring is a raven. The raven Corvus corax is a member of the family Corvidae, which includes crows, jays, and magpies. They are one of the most widespread, naturally occurring birds worldwide. While they can be found throughout most of the Northern Hemisphere in many types of habitats, they are permanent residents of Alaska, where they nest anywhere from the Seward Peninsula to the mountains of southeast Alaska. Ravens prefer open landscapes such as seacoasts, treeless tundra, open riverbanks, rocky cliffs, mountain forests, plains, deserts, and scrubby woodlands. There is no mistaking the raucous call of the raven; its deep, resonant caw is its trademark, yet the bird can produce an amazing assortment of sounds.

The raven is distinguished from other Corvus species by their massive size and is the largest all-black bird in the world. In Alaska, the raven is sometimes confused with a hawk or crow. The birds have have large, stout bills, thick necks, shaggy throat feathers called “hackles” that they use in social communication, and wedge-shaped tails, which are most visible when the birds are in flight.

Most ravens first breed at three or four years of age; once a raven finds a parter, it mates for life. Ravens begin displaying courtship behavior in mid-January, and by mid-March, adult pairs roost near their nesting locations. The female lays three to seven eggs and then incubates them; the male contributes to the birth of his young by feeding the mother-to-be while she nests. The chicks hatch after about three weeks and leave the nest about four weeks after hatching. Both parents feed their young by regurgitating food and water stored in their throat pouches. Ravens are omnivores, but most of their diet is meat, they are known to consume a wide variety of both plant and animal matter. They scavenge for carrion and garbage and also prey on rodents and on the eggs and nestlings of other birds.

Ravens are excellent fliers and often engage in aerial acrobatics as they soar to great heights. During the day, ravens form loose flocks, but by night, many of them will roost together. As many as 800 ravens have been seen in one roost. Unlike many birds, ravens do not undertake long migrations, but they do relocate locally for nesting each year.

The raven has played important roles in many cultures, mythologies, and writings. Ravens disobeyed Noah during the great flood by failing to return to the ark after being sent to search for land. In Norse mythology, the god Odin ordered two ravens named Thought and Memory to fly the world each day so they could inform him of what was happening. The spiritual importance of the raven to Alaska’s Native people is still recognized today.

The cover image is from Cassell’s Natural History. The cover font is Adobe ITC Garamond. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont’s TheSansMonoCondensed.