Tropical Butterfly House: Meet Odín the raven, whose artwork has been flying off the shelves

A talented bird at South Yorkshire’s Tropical Butterfly House has been wowing visitors with her amazing artwork.

Odín the raven has mastered the use of a paintbrush, creating colourful masterpieces with a few swishes of her beak at the popular wildlife park in North Anston, near the border between Sheffield and Rotherham.

Odín, who recently turned 10, began honing her artistic skills around eight years ago.

A spokeswoman for the Tropical Butterfly House said: “We started using different tools for her to use in her beak and then gradually gave her a brush. We gradually got her used to using an easel. It did take quite a lot of training but she eventually dipped a brush into a pot of safe paint or food colouring.”

Odín, who appears to have a predilection for black and red, doesn’t create too many artworks, as staff at the attraction say ravens are ‘very intelligent’ birds and ‘get bored easily’.

“But when we do have paintings, we sell them in the gift shop and the money goes to conservation,” explained a spokeswoman for the butterfly house.