Raven (Corvax corvax)

                                                                Large bird, the only member of the crow family resident in Iceland. Biggest of the passerines, of strong build with longish wide wings with primaries spread in flight and wedge-shaped tail. Uniformly black, adult with green or purple sheen on head and above. Shaggy feathers on necks, loose thigh feathers. Juvenile is less black, without sheen.

Bill is black, broad, strong, upper mandible feathered at base. Feet and eyes black.
Flight is powerful with deep wingbeats.
Flies straight, often high, glides on extended wings.
Often swoops down with folded wings, performs aerobatics.
Hops on both feet. Gregarious, stays in groups or pairs.

Low, hoarse croak, also clucking and other sounds.
Breeds in rocky places, gorges and lava fields in lowlands,
rare above 400m.
In Southern Lowlands, nests on various man-made structures:
silos, pylons, outhouses.
Has also nested in trees in N.
Nest is large agglomeration of bones, twigs, barbed wire,
lined with wool and feathers, on ledge or crevice.
Breeding birds remain near territory all year, but non-breeders
wander about in and near urban areas, roosts in flocks in cliffs.

Breeding distribution in much of N hemisphere,
rare in the most urban regions.