Raven chicks hatch at the Tower of London for first time in 30 years

Tower of London Ravenmaster Chris Skaife holding one of the first ravens to be born at the Tower in 30 years.
PA

Four raven chicks have hatched at the Tower of London for the first time since 1989.

The parents, named Huginn and Muninn, saw their four healthy chicks begin to hatch on St George’s Day last month.

Each chick measured around 8cm, but have quadrupled in size in just three weeks, currently standing at 30cm tall.

Seven other ravens also reside at the Tower.

Ravenmaster Chris Skaife holding one of the first ravens to be born at the Tower in 30 years.
PA

Ravens have long been associated with the world-famous landmark. Legend goes that if the ravens ever leave the Tower of London, both the Tower and the Kingdom will suffer.

Yeoman Warder Chris Skaife, Raven master at the Tower of London, has worked with the ravens for the last 13 years.

"I feel like a proud father!" says Raven master Christ Skaife
PA

He said: "My suspicions were first piqued that we might have a chance of baby chicks when the parents built a huge nest suddenly overnight and then almost immediately the female bird started to sit on it.

"Then on the 23 April I noticed the birds going to the nest with food, however it has only been this week that I've been able to get up close and see for myself that they have four healthy chicks, as I hadn't wanted to disturb them too much.

"Having worked with the ravens here at the Tower for the last 13 years and getting to know each of them, I feel like a proud father!"

The chicks survive on a varied diet of quail, mice and rats.

One of the chicks will stay at the Tower, and having begun to hatch on St George's Day, that chick will be named George or Georgina.

Agencies contributed to this report.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in