Posted by ravens at March 3rd, 2010
The Billy Wilder Square ravens are still hard at work bringing twigs into the billboard above Mashti Malone’s. They’ve learned to fly into the bottom of it with a graceful arcing swoop. Impossible to see at all what exactly they are managing to contrive in there. The location doesn’t seem likely to be fledgling friendly.
Posted by ravens at October 28th, 2009
It does appear to be true that ravens neither live nor forage in the vicinity of Monterey. And there seems to be no obvious reason, at least to this amateur naturalist, for this odd range limit. C. brachyrhynchos loves it here, as do two species of jays. Can’t imagine there is a predator here that does not exist elsewhere in the state, and there is an overpopulation of C. corax everywhere else. I cannot think of any other factors that would affect ravens but not crows. This leaves me with only one rather weak hypothesis. This is one of the first places that humans with guns settled in California. They may have brought with them rural beliefs about predation of ravens on newborn livestock, or may have been shooting at ravens for other reasons. And then a cultural taboo on the area has been passed on by the birds ever since. This seems to have happened in the eastern US as well, so maybe it is not totally far-fetched.
As with crows and the Santa Monica mountains, there is some kind of zone in the normal range of the species that is simply passed over. Maybe I should go back to investigating the no-crow zone at home. It might be too simple to put it down to absence of lawns and other anthropogenic factors. As for Monterey and crows, there are plenty, probably too many, but I have not had time to see what they are really living on. Some are clearly local pairs, comfortable in their neighborhood trees, but down by the shore and downtown, there are lots of juvenile gangs having all sorts of fun in the strong winds and competing with all the other urban birds – which here includes Euphagus cyanocephalus, or Brewer’s blackbird. Over in Carmel, the latter seems to fill the niche usually occupied by sparrows in the most built-up areas, but that’s only a passing observation.
Posted by ravens at September 15th, 2009
Noticing frequent visits by a pair of ravens here but suspect they are either Iron Mountain or Billy Wilder Square birds.
Posted by ravens at September 7th, 2009
Big, pretty, vocal raven greets me at Pico and Robertson
Posted by ravens at August 30th, 2009
Raven above BW Square picking at pigeon wing. Probably left over from Buteo breakfast, which would explain all the brachyrynchos alarm calls earlier.
Posted by ravens at July 3rd, 2009
This is one of my local ravens – seen day-long in the vicinty of Billy Wilder Square and the pines of Lanewood Ave. – being very vocal at 8:30 a.m. I have no clue what was going on; mostly from a perch in one of the pines, but also with a couple fly-overs to the same spot on a nearby building. Raven mysteries. Sounds almost like a chimp at times. I think it may have grabbed a piece of food from the tree before flying off to Sunset Blvd, but I’m not certain.Was there more food it wanted? Was it having trouble caching? Was it trying to call its partner? RavenLanewood
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Posted by ravens at June 11th, 2009
Billy Wilder Square ravens perched on Coors Light billboard above motel, grooming each other, preening and looking largely content.
Posted by ravens at June 5th, 2009
Two ravens at Long Beach & Washington aka furniture $ decorative arts district
Posted by ravens at May 30th, 2009
At Wilshire and Park View
Posted by ravens at May 28th, 2009
Two ravens high and bearing SE over Samohi