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Raven Behaviour (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter UgashikBob
- Start date
jaymoynihan
Corvus brachyrhynchos watcher
Interesting. I have personally watched Ravens in Wisconsin, Washington, Minnesota and Michigan. I have not seen one with a "brow ridge" or "toupe" look like that. Given you have 2 images, i would think it is not the wind. You might want to share the images, time, location with an ornithologist with the U of Alaska or such?
UgashikBob
Active member
Jay:
Thank you for the suggestion. Will do.
Thank you for the suggestion. Will do.
Allen S. Moore
Well-known member
Bernd Heinrich wrote in his book "Ravens in Winter" (published in 1990) about his researches on the raven in the USA. He described the behaviour that you saw as the "fuzzy-headed" display. It is something to do with the dominance or otherwise of the raven. I must look up the details - it is many years since I read this great book!
Allen
UgashikBob
Active member
Alan
Alan:
Excellent source. Can't believe all the time I spent earlier googling Raven behavior and never came up with Bernd Heinrich as a source.
In this case our sole winter resident Tundra Swan had just expired and the foxes had drug it into the thickest part of the alders. The Raven shown and its mate appeared very frustrated because they could not get down through the thick alders and join the feeding frenzy. I thought the hood/cap thing was related to some sort of stress.
Alan:
Excellent source. Can't believe all the time I spent earlier googling Raven behavior and never came up with Bernd Heinrich as a source.
In this case our sole winter resident Tundra Swan had just expired and the foxes had drug it into the thickest part of the alders. The Raven shown and its mate appeared very frustrated because they could not get down through the thick alders and join the feeding frenzy. I thought the hood/cap thing was related to some sort of stress.
Attachments
UgashikBob
Active member
Alan:
Now that you have ID'd the behavior for me it was easier to find.
During one behavior called the “fuzzy-headed or thick-headed” display, ravens fluff out their head feathers to signal their submission to a dominant bird. Dominant birds, on the other hand, erect the head feathers above their ears for a “Batman” effect.
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=269&issue_id=46
Now that you have ID'd the behavior for me it was easier to find.
During one behavior called the “fuzzy-headed or thick-headed” display, ravens fluff out their head feathers to signal their submission to a dominant bird. Dominant birds, on the other hand, erect the head feathers above their ears for a “Batman” effect.
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=269&issue_id=46
jaymoynihan
Corvus brachyrhynchos watcher
Very interesting.
And btw, nice images.
And btw, nice images.