Birds and Nature

It is has been some time since I found clear Chihuahuan Ravens in my area. Usually I find ravens that are likely hybrid Chihuahuan-Common Ravens or just those whose characteristics are intermediate. Correctly identifying Chihuahuan Ravens in Colorado is fraught with hazards as explained in this Colo Field Ornithologists journal article and I am not inclined these days to call one a Chihuahuan without some definitive field marks. This raven and a second one showed the definitive field mark of having nasal bristles clearly more than half the length of the bill. Of less reliability they appeared to have thicker (deep) bills and the throat feathers look less shaggy than those found on Common Ravens. SeEtta

Since we have been discussing how to differentiate Chihuahuan from Common Ravens on Cobirds (colorado birding listserve), I thought this was an opportune time to upload the two pics of Chihuahuan Ravens (below) I took on 12-19-2010 in Texas I hadn't got up here. Both sets of pics show very nicely the long and thick nasal bristles on the stout bill of Chihuahuans (more than 2/3 rd's of the bill) versus the long bill (with minimal nasal bristles) found on Commons. It may be useful to enlarge the pics of the Chihuahuan Ravens by double clicking on each one (won't work with Common Raven pics due to technical issues). SeEtta

This short clip shows a rather hapless hawk that flew into the midst of a loose flock of Chihuahuan Ravens and it was not welcome. Both the hawk and the ravens engage in some acrobatic warfare. This clip is best viewed in an enlarged form that can be accessed by double-clicking the small box in far bottom right corner. SeEtta

I got this clip a few days ago on my return trip through the Lamesa, TX area. These are only a small part of the very large congregation of more than a thousand I found north of Lamesa--hundreds flying, hundreds perched in trees and hundreds sharing an area that likely included a pond with hundreds of Sandhill Cranes. The sound of the Chihuahuan Ravens comes pretty clear in this clip as hundreds of the birds fly overhead. SeEtta

This short clip gives a closer view of two Chihuahuan Ravens. Previous to this clip the raven on the right was making a non-too-subtle move to get the food that the other raven has. The raven in the rear outsmarted it and returns to working on whatever morsel it has in its beak. SeEtta

This short video clip gives another nice view of the large concentration of Chihuahuan Ravens near Lamesa,TX as this group flies fairly close to the ground giving pretty good views. SeEtta

This raven was one of the very large winter concentration in the Lamesa, TX area. It, and many others I saw, showed very clearly the field marks of Chihuahuan Ravens. This is in contrast to a number of ravens that I see in southeastern Colorado where it is often difficult if not impossible to clearly identify birds that do not vocalize. In this pic the heavy/thick bill with rictal bristles coming almost the distal end of the bill make it clear that this is a Chihuahuan, and not a Common, Raven. SeEtta

This video clip shows one of the large loose flocks of Chihuahuan Ravens I saw in and around Lamesa, TX both on my way to the Rio Grande Valley in December and on my way back this week. Birds of North America online notes that this species is known to congregate in large numbers in western parts of Texas. More to come. SeEtta

My posting got interrupted by the Snowy Owl and I didn't get to finish posting about some of my birding on my way home as drove through West Texas and the Panhandle. I didn't get any post-able pics of a neat spectacle I saw in small town in West Texas-- many hundreds of Chihuahuan Ravens . I first observed numbers of Chihuahuan Ravens feeding in a just-plowed ag field. When the farmer drove his tractor back towards them, the ravens started lifting off with many more coming from behind vegetation and others from the trees surrounding the field. They formed into 2 separate "kettles" and flew in apparent thermals around and around as they lifted higher--I was amazed as there were more than 500 ravens in total. As the kettles rose several hundred feet up, first one then the other kettle flew off each in a different direction. The above pic shows some of the ravens in a kettle--I just haven't mastered the technique necessary to get good pics of kettles be they r...