Graham Earnshaw, Black Beauty (ANIMALS 2023)

I find our Aussie Ravens stunning birds, especially when photo’d all close up and personal. Really love their “bib” of feathers. Our local ravens are commonly mistaken as crows, our ravens have bigger, curvier beaks, and their bristles are longer at the end of their beaks as are their bib feathers. Noongar word for our ravens is Wardong and it holds great spiritual meaning with almost half adopting it as their animal totem (‘kobongs’). Noongar people also believe the wardong help carry the spirits of the dead across the sea beyond Rottnest and Garden Islands to the afterlife at Kunannu. The wardong also plays an important part in season changes – when it begins to pair up for mating and become quieter, this indicates the start of Makuru, the coldest and wettest season. The crafty birds also feature in many Noongar dreaming stories, including how they developed their iconic black sheen after accidently lighting a large bushfire. The crow, the seagull and the magpie, who at the time were all completely white, raced for shelter in a cave. The gull made it first, entering the cave completely unsinged and remaining white. The magpie followed shortly after, finding safety with just a few burnt patches. However, the crow was the last to reach the shelter, leaving it burnt completely black all over its body.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.