This is the moment a pair of polite talking ravens greeted stunned tourists with a cheery 'hello' at a medieval castle.

The birds can be heard asking 'what's the matter?' and 'what are you looking for' to surprised visitors at Knaresborough Castle where they have been kept since 1999.

There are eight ravens at the North Yorkshire castle and most of them will talk to tourists at the ruined fortress which overlooks the River Nidd.

Like other members of the crow family, ravens have been shown to possess surprising intelligence and linguistic ability.

The hilarious video is going viral online but it is not the first time that the Knaresborough birds have attracted attention.

In late 2015 one of the ravens named Izzie was stopped from flying free after repeatedly stealing phones and cameras from visitors.


She also pinched golf balls and even a baby's dummy - as well as mimicking foul-mouthed phrases, the Mirror reported.

Igraine Hustwitt Skelton, Her Majesty's Keeper of Castle Ravens, said at the time: 'It started to be a problem when people were taking photos of her.


'She would fly towards them and sit on their shoulders but then she started taking things.

'Now she's taken to nicking cameras and mobile phones and using her beak to take selfies.'