Over the past two weeks or so, I have been thinking about Christmas Bird Counts and that usually sparks my interest in those species that are "rare" in my area during the winter season that can often show up on CBCs. This year my focus has been to learn Chihuahuan Raven since there have been a few seen over the past few years in the Boulder County CBCs. I have limited experience with Chihuahuan Raven (I have seen two and only heard one) and two weeks now of studying in books. However, this morning on my walk to the bus stop, I heard an unmistakeably different raven species call. Higher pitched, what I would call throatier, and if I had to put words to it (which I am not pleased about) I would say it said "Craaock" with a lot of rattle on the middle of the call. It gave three distinct notes in a high-low-low pattern but they were no more than a full note apart in pitch. The first note was slightly longer than the second two.
Eventually the bird pitched out from behind a house low to the rooftops and crossed straight across the road. I got limited time to watch it, so I can't say much about it aside from it had a raven's tail, which I thought was long, but I wouldn't put any money on the relative nature of that to the body. Flight style wasn't of note, wing shape was totally missed because of the fly-by angle, and I couldn't see anything about the beak in the split second I had to watch it fly by. The best part about the whole experience was the number of other crows and ravens around on this morning. There were hundreds of crows all morning on my bus ride down to Boulder and a few ravens near the bus stop. Right after the possible Chihuahuan Raven called, another raven (presumed Common by call) called out in the distance then followed almost immediately by three different American Crow calls. It seemed to be a Corvus party this morning near my house in Longmont. When looking for Chihuahuan Raven calls this morning, I thought this recording sounded most like the bird I heard this morning. http://xeno-canto.org/recording.php?XC=18832 If others believe that there is something I am missing or if there are behavioral tips I should pick up on next time please let me know as I know this is a common thread at this time of year, and a common question that many people would likely want answered. Thanks, Bryan Guarente Instructional Designer The COMET Program University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Boulder, CO -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
