Ravens have long captured the human imagination. These big, black birds are known for their intelligence, adaptability, and mysterious nature. Ravens feature heavily in folklore, mythology and poetry across cultures. Their jet black plumage and raucous cries inspire a sense of foreboding. At the same time, people recognize the raven’s cleverness and cunning. This blend of darkness and wit makes the raven an endless source of riddles and puzzles.
Below are 67 riddles about ravens, spanning funny jokes, rhyming riddles, and brain teasers. Some are new while others have unknown origins lost to time. See how many you can get right! Don’t feel discouraged if you struggle with a few. Some are quite difficult. The important thing is to exercise your mind and have fun with these feathered riddle-makers.
Funny raven riddles
Let’s start with some silly and humorous riddles about our corvid friends:
1. What do you call a raven that goes “ding dong”?
A doorbell raven!
2. What did the raven say to the writing desk?
“Nevermore!” (This nonsense phrase comes from Edgar Allen Poe’s famous poem “The Raven”.)
3. Why don’t ravens like writing desks?
Because Poe wrote on both of them!
4. What do you call a raven in the snow?
A snowbird!
5. Why did the raven eat at a fancy restaurant?
He wanted to be waited on hand and foot!
6. Where does a raven go for lunch?
IHOP – International House of Poecile!
7. What did the raven say to his sweetheart?
“You’re the apple of my eye!”
8. What’s a raven’s favorite kind of music?
Rap, hip-hop, and heavy metal!
9. Why can’t you trust a raven to keep a secret?
Because they love to gossip and caw-caw!
10. What do you call a raven that does magic tricks?
Hocus croakus!
Rhyming raven riddles
Now let’s look at some rhyming riddle puzzles:
11. I’m black as night and caw in flight, clever as can be. Perched high in a tree, what am I?
A raven.
12. Sleek and black, I sit and croak, watching all around. Spot a shiny thing, down I swoop without a sound. What am I?
A raven.
13. Dark black coat and curved sharp beak, wheeling, turning, diving, shriek. Perched high above, weaving, bobbing, cawing loud at mobbing. What am I?
A raven.
14. In the tower I sit alone, sharp beak upon a bone. Blacker than blackest night, singing my song in fright. None disturb my quiet might. What am I?
A raven.
15. Swooping, gliding all around. Mystery in my midnight sound. Playing tricks that can’t be pinned, where’s the joke? It’s all within. What am I?
A raven.
16. Dark wings spread against the sky, black body floating high. Silent hunter circling near, cry that chills with sudden fear. What am I?
A raven.
17. Perched atop a darkened cube, wings tucked in to huddle, stoop. Gaze intense beneath the hood, silent, watching, crafty and shrewd. What am I?
A raven.
18. In the shadows lurking, on the grave I’m perching. Blackest plume and horned beak, the living I rarely seek. Who am I?
A raven.
19. Dark midnight wings take flight, dancing in the fading light. Silent aerobatics play out, as the eerie caws begin to shout. Who am I?
A raven.
20. Black on black you see me sail, riding wind without a tail. Sharp my beak and sleek my wings, in the darkness twilight brings. What am I?
A raven.
Classic raven riddles
These brain teasers are commonly known raven riddles with older, mysterious origins:
21. In marble walls I make my nest, and raise my young in downy rest. My sliding home protects me well, when feathered hunters prowl and yell. Who am I?
A raven.
22. My coat is black as midnight’s sky. I bank and turn and sail and glide. All throughout the shadows wide, my call rings loud, from high to low. Who am I?
A raven.
23. I live upon a minster rock, and hold conference with the clock. My voice you’ll hear at each daylight, and yet with thieves I’ve no delight. Who am I?
A raven.
24. My feathers black, my dinner set, I fly from minster tower to get my food. And perch upon the head so wise, that slew the monster with his lies, whose arms now my refuge are. Who am I?
A raven.
25. A swarthy thing in likeness of a crow, as black as coal, and hoarse of voice did grow, till perched within the shadowed tower, I nightly gibe the fatal hour, by talking solemnly and slow. Who am I?
A raven.
26. You spy me dark against the sky, wheeling low and croaking high. I snatch a worm or critter furry, then wing away in little hurry. Perched atop a branch or porch, what a striking inky smudge! Who am I?
A raven.
27. My feathers shine with rainbow sheen. Upon a tree I sit serene. When fluffed against the wintry wind, warm and snug I tuck my chin. Fill my belly with springtime bugs, come summer I’ll have fully fledged. Who am I?
A raven chick.
28. My feathers black as soot and tar, their inky darkness marred by one white star. A splash of snow, a sunlit blip, small but distinct upon one wing tip. Who am I?
A raven.
29. Wheeling, turning, diving low. Dropping like a heavy black crow. Sleek and dark my feathered flight, dancing in the fading light. Twilight spell now cast on high, lonesome wail, my eerie cry. What am I?
A raven.
30. Dark steed, dark knight, the night’s black bird. Your fearful cries, they go unheard. Ominous you circle round, waiting for your victim found. Carrion eater, death’s dark herald. What are you?
A raven.
Classic trick raven riddles
These are classic riddles designed to trick you:
31. You walk into a room with a match, a kerosene lamp, a candle, and a fireplace. Which do you light first?
The match.
32. A doctor and a bus driver go to lunch together and both order sandwiches. When they’re done, the bus driver pays but the doctor doesn’t. Why?
They are one and the same person.
33. A woman has two daughters born on the same day, at the same time, in the same month and year and yet they’re not twins. How?
They are two of a set of triplets.
34. A man builds an ordinary house with four sides except that each side faces south. A bear walks by the house. What color is the bear?
White – the house is at the North Pole so all sides face south.
35. You walk across a bridge and see a boat full of people yet there isn’t a single person on board. How is that possible?
All the people on board are married.
36. A doctor rushes out of his office and goes straight to the hospital. There he meets his wife holding quintuplets – three girls and two boys. The kids aren’t the doctor’s children. What relation is the doctor to each of the five babies?
He’s their uncle.
Hard raven riddles
Let’s finish with some real brain bending puzzles:
37. The maker does not need it, the buyer does not use it, the user knows not he is using it. What is it?
A coffin.
38. What English word has three consecutive double letters?
Bookkeeper.
39. Mary has four daughters – Nana, Nene, Nini, and ?
Nunu.
40. Take off my skin and I won’t cry, but you will! What am I?
An onion.
41. Feed me and I live, give me a drink and I die. What am I?
Fire.
42. The more you take away, the larger it becomes. What is it?
A hole.
43. What travels the world but stays in one corner?
A stamp.
44. I’m tall when I’m young and short when I’m old. What am I?
A candle.
45. What English word retains the same pronunciation even after you take away four of its letters?
Queue.
46. What occurs once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in one thousand years?
The letter M.
47. I’m light as a feather yet the strongest person can’t hold me for more than 5 minutes. What am I?
Breath.
48. The more there is, the less you see. What is it?
Darkness.
49. What can travel around the whole way around the world while staying in a corner?
A stamp.
50. What belongs to you but other people use it more than you?
Your name.
51. What gets wetter the more it dries?
A towel.
52. I have cities but no houses, forests but no trees, and water but no fish. What am I?
A map.
53. What goes up and down but doesn’t move?
A staircase.
54. What has a neck but no head?
A bottle.
55. What has hands but can’t clap?
A clock.
56. What has four legs but can’t walk?
A table.
57. I’m not alive but I grow. I don’t have lungs but I need air. What am I?
Fire.
58. What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and grey when you throw it away?
Charcoal.
59. The poor have it, the rich need it. If you eat it you will die. What is it?
Nothing.
60. People buy me to eat but never eat me. What am I?
A plate.
61. What belongs to you but is used more by others?
Your name.
62. I’m light as a feather yet no one can hold me for long. What am I?
Breath.
63. What gets broken without being held?
A promise.
64. What has a head, a tail, but never any legs?
A coin.
65. What goes up but never comes down?
Your age.
66. What comes down but never goes up?
Rain.
67. What is always in front of you but can’t be seen?
The future.
Conclusion
How did you enjoy these riddles about our fine feathered friends? Ravens have inspired riddles for centuries and will likely do so for centuries to come. Their intelligence, adaptability and mysterious nature provide endless fodder. Hopefully you had fun and stretched your mind with this selection of raven riddles – funny, rhyming, tricky and hard. Let the raven’s wise cunning influence your approach to life’s puzzles both big and small!
