Synanthropisation And Synurbisation Of Raven Corvus Corax In Poland: A Review

Abstract The Raven Corvus corax is one of the oldest synanthropic bird species. Historical development of human settlements and cities was the reason of occupancy by ravens neighborhood of villages and town. Nowadays, suburban areas are, among forest and rural areas, habitats used by Ravens. Since end of middle ages Ravens began breeding in interior of towns in the Great Britain. During 20th century Raven occupied several big cities of Europe and North America. In Poland, the first attempts of colonization of cities took place in the 1950s in Warsaw and Kraków. During next decades Raven came back from centrum of cities and began colonized suburban zone, mainly big forests within the border of towns. Untilnow, Raven in Poland nest only in suburban zones. Observations of non-breeding pairs inside of cities are still rare. The biggest population in cities do not exceed 20 breeding pairs.