Ravens in Hollywood

Posted by ravens at December 19th, 2009

Have arrived at Greek Theatre to test data collection with GPS app. Will walk down to Los Feliz or crow, whichever comes first. Lovely sunny day like you can only have in LA in December.

Posted by ravens at December 15th, 2009

To most Angelenos, it must seem like crows range everywhere. They love the city and the way humans have made it so habitable for them. However, crows do not range into Griffith Park, and possibly other parts of the Santa Monica mountains. I’ve known this for a long time, but it wasn’t until my visit to Monterey – a place where ravens won’t be found, in spite of their proliferation in California generally – it wasn’t until that visit that I began to think it might be worth while to investigate and map the Crow Line (or the No Crow Line, if you prefer).

I have two things now that I didn’t have the last time it seemed like an interesting project: iPhone and binoculars. I’ve picked out a couple GPS apps to test, which have topo maps. I’ll start inside the no-crow zone and walk out until I find and note specimens of C. brachyrhynchos, repeating the route on different days to build up an accurate data picture of the boundary. After locating the line, more observations can be made to figure out how the line actually works.

Posted by ravens at December 15th, 2009

All of a sudden have notice lots of non-avian ravens all over the place. The USS Raven of the Star Trek universe (TNG, I think – thanks to Celsius1414 for that one). Raven, the horse ridden by one of the police officers lately murdered in Washington. A small military drone system named Raven. In the film Independence Day, one of Will Smith’s fellow jet fighter pilots is nicknamed Raven. Or maybe it was Will Smith’s character.

Posted by ravens at November 18th, 2009

At the Airship Ventures web site, a great view of one of LA’s primary raven habitats as the Eureka arrived today in the southland for another visit. I always wonder what ravens think of the various human machines they encounter. Not much, I’m sure, unless food is involved.

http://airshipventures.blogspot.com/2009/11/griffith-observatory.html

Posted by ravens at November 7th, 2009

Was recognized by local ravens when I made an early trip to Starbucks on a recent morning.

Posted by ravens at October 28th, 2009

but lots and lots of buzzards / vultures

Posted by ravens at October 24th, 2009

Ventura to Santa Barbara: lots of ravens along the coast so far; in fact, have been seeing them from Union Station on.

Posted by ravens at October 23rd, 2009

If California history balances like a teeter-totter between north and south, the fulcrum must be Monterey, the capital town of the colonial province. Ravens in Hollywood will be boarding the Coast Starlight soon for a trip north.

According to the Monterey Bay Shoreline Guide, ravens are very scarce between Big Sur in the north and the Pajaro River to the south. We shall see.

Robert Louis Stevenson has a Monterey connection as well, so our sister blog should be involved, time allowing. I’ll keep a running commentary on this topic in the comments section until the conclusion of my visit, and then write up a new post.

Posted by ravens at September 28th, 2009

http://griffithparkwayist.blogspot.com/

New to Ravens in Hollywood, anyway. Good coverage of the problems that result from feeding wild animals. As we’ve noted, ravens are well above their natural population in LA due to the abundance of human food waste (don’t get us started on the whole issue of wasting food, either!) The effect of this on ravens as wild animals is more subtle than the recent cull of coyotes in Griffith Park. But it can be pointed out that the quality of life for raven chicks and fledglings now being raised just above city streets is not the quality they would have in the wilderness in which they evolved.

Just realized the same thing also applies to homo sapiens… ! Heh.

Posted by ravens at September 24th, 2009

Tags will track songbirds’ social networks – http://bit.ly/1pcAHS

http://twitter.com/stevesilberman/status/4348338884