Scientists say they are surprised, while also saying it’s simply logical that ravens remember where to find food.

Researchers found that wolf kills often clustered in certain parts of the landscape, especially flat valley bottoms where wolves hunt more successfully. Ravens visited these areas much more often than places where kills rarely happened. This suggests the birds learn and remember long-term feeding patterns across the environment.

“We already knew that ravens can remember stable food sources, like landfills,” says Loretto. “What surprised us is that they also seem to learn in which areas wolf kills are more common. A single kill is unpredictable, but over time some parts of the landscape are more productive than others — and ravens appear to use that pattern to their advantage.”