Richard Collins: The avian 'prince of darkness' is thriving

Ravens have fed on corpses at battlefields and an 'unkindness of ravens' is one collective noun for a group of these birds

A raven is technically a 'songbird' but its sounds are more typically croaks and grunts

Who will not change a raven for a dove? — Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

It is February and the raven, our largest songbird, has begun nesting. Its ominous croaks and grunts don’t exactly evoke the joys of spring, however... this is a bird of ill omen.