Birds of Silvermine #10: White-Necked Raven
The cache is the 5th of an additional 5 bird-themed caches added (with kind approval) to ge0cath’s original 5 located along an adjacent trail to the south.
See GC9DNAD BoS #6 Cape Sugarbird for background details and useful waypoints.
The white-necked raven (Corvus albicollis) is found throughout eastern and southern Africa in open, mountainous country. It may also be seen in small towns and villages with relatively nearby mountains or hills for roosting and nesting.
It is a typical heavy-billed raven, 50–54cm long, weighs 762-865g with a wingspan of 75–86cm and life expectancy up to 50 years. It is larger than Pied Crow, with a heavier white-tipped bill and much less white.
It finds most of its food on the ground, but will also take food from trees. It has been seen to drop a tortoise from a height on to hard ground, preferably on rocks, and then swoop down to eat it, or even pick it up again if not sufficiently broken.
They will readily take fruit, grain, insects, small reptiles, peanuts, human food and also road kill carrion. It 
may forage quite openly in back yards and gardens.
Like most raven species, they form flocks after leaving their parents and, once fully matured, will pair off and form territories. They are often found with other scavengers such as kites or vultures. Its flight is powerful and heavy, and it soars well with shallower wingbeats than other Corvidae.
Often described as a raven with a sore throat, it has very similar calls to the common raven, but more husky (listen here). It croaks like other ravens but with a more whispering note (listen here). Like all corvids, it is a clever vocal mimic, but this has only ever been recorded in captivity (see here).
The nest is a large cup of twigs lined with hair, grass and wool and placed on an almost inaccessible ledge or hole in a cliff, but occasionally found in trees.
2-5 (usually 4) eggs are laid between July-Nov (peaking Sep-Oct) which are incubated for about 21-26 days. Chicks are usually fed and cared for solely by the female and leave the nest after 38 days.
For videos: see here (WNR as a service bird!), here (pair preening), here (scavenging at Strandfontein) and here soaring over Silvermine.