Ravens in Hollywood

Posted by ravens at November 10th, 2005

I wonder why I bother running hither and yon to see ravens – there are plenty at home. Agitated crows outside woke me up all too early, but lying in bed later, I heard that familiar rruk-rruk, no doubt from the pines above my building, and then closer – looking out the window, two birds glided over, no higher than the telephone poles, heading south across Sunset Blvd. and towards the old Chaplin studios that are now Muppet headquarters.

An hour and half later, two birds in the same mode, a half a block to the east – going after a little In and Out burger, maybe? Too cloudy and cool to soar, but even when it is warm, I think it is not to early to claim a pattern of foraging in the flats. The question it opens up is are the flats part of anyone’s territory, and is it locals or others doing the foraging, and what are they foraging for? I suppose that’s a silly question. They are ravens and will eat anything. But with all the human activity, I can’t believe everything edible constitutes an opportunity.

The clouds began to break up between nine and ten, and I took a walk around the block. Four ravens above Hollywood Boulevard, playing in the warming air, soarcling over the Roosevelt Hotel, seeming to enjoy the day. It was hard to tell really what this was about. A meeting of two pairs, or four acquaintances out on the town? Was there any territorial defense going on? Ravens can be very low key about this. The last thing I saw was a single raven making a beeline westwards over Hollywood Boulevard. But after this last two weeks of chance local encounters, I’m leaning toward focusing my observations right at home, to learn as much as possible about ravens in the urban zone.

Posted by ravens at November 6th, 2005

On the way to a morning hike under clearing skies, we came across a disturbed landscape on a ridge overlooking Lake Hollywood. I spotted the raven right away, but many crows flew off (the raven did not) and answered my previous questions about whether or not they entered the hills much. I think this is an access point and work area for the DWP projects to stabilize the hillsides against erosion, and as Marzluff notes, disturbed areas are the crows’ gateway. Ravens were there again the next day, but not on the ground – a dad and his two kids were walking their dog on the ridge, so any foraging had been disturbed, and I couldn’t see anything really to forage for – grubs, I suppose. Aside from this, I’ve only seen crows flying over the hills, and not seen any in the hills or in GP.

Posted by ravens at November 2nd, 2005

Out for exercise, I decided to head directly south. Soon I’m in Hollywood’s Media District, the studios and production units that support the Industry. I pass Radio Recorders, where the landmark sign says that Elvis, Bing and others had laid down tracks. Then I reach Willoughby, the border between the Media District and one of L.A.’s most attractive neighborhoods. It doesn’t really have a name, though, not that I’m aware of. Sometimes that part of Hollywood was called The Flats. Lots of old school housing.

I heard a familiar “rruk-rruk” and looked around quickly, finally catching sight of a raven ascending from the neighborhood and moving slowly north-east. It was funny, because I had just passed west of the great bulk of Iron Mountain (the giant billboard building on Highland Ave). which seems like it would really be attractive to ravens who want a nest high up, cliff-style. Visibility runs out quickly with all the trees and varied buildings in the area, so I lost sight of the bird quickly. Wonder what it was into… we need a whole bunch of dumpster-cams in this city.

Posted by ravens at October 18th, 2005

Hollywood may be a mythical tinseltown to most people, but in reality it’s a place where the ultra-famous live alongside the utterly destitute, with a lot of ordinary working people in between. Lots of residents live off dumpster diving, and ravens are no exception, as my marathon raven expedition on Sunday in Griffith Park was to reveal.

A small brush fire above Fern Dell detoured me to the Vermont Ave. entrance, used for the golf course and Greek Theater, whose summer season has just ended. I had hardly arrived before I spotted ravens, and followed one to a location just outside the theater. I heard raven song as I approached, which I believe was coming from the raven in the dumpster, who emerged with a nice chunk of garlic bread.

Why the singing (the mysterious, xylophone-like sounds) just then?

Posted by ravens at September 16th, 2005

While I was toweling off after my shower, I could hear ra’ak, ra’ak outside, very near – must have been in the pines. Going on 10:00 a.m. Overcast, moderate temps. Never saw them though. There is no view from the bathroom window to speak of. Do they make rounds? Do they always stop by LaBrea and Sunset in the morning? Why? Earlier there had been crows flocking around the billboard, and I took a picture for purposes of comparison.

Posted by ravens at September 15th, 2005

I heard them before I saw them, as usual when I’m in the apartment. My street is lined with really tall Canary Island pines, popular with LA landscapers from the 1920s on, and I suspect that aside from their favorite billboards, the ravens hang out in the pines too (can’t see them, though).

Over coffee, while I was reading the letter to Gaelic learners that I get off the BBC (God bless Ruairidh MacIlleathain!), I heard the vocalization which I believe Heinrich notes as kek, kek, kek, but which I guess is the ravens’ version of caw! caw! caw! that their smaller cousins are infamous for… in any case, to me it sounds more like rawk! rawk! (this would only be appropriate in Hollywood, dude) or ra’ak, ra’ak, ra’ak (supposing a raven – Klingon connection). Kek kek kek, for me, is the defensive alarm of small wrens, not ravens. OK jays too.

In any case, before long this very vociferous raven turned up on the usual billboard (the film should be ready tomorrow, so finally my reader will see what I see). What all the alarm was about, is anyone’s guess – a hawk, some crows, who knows. Today I had a free morning and wanted to get some serious exercise in Runyon Canyon (there is a picture of that down below!) and didn’t see a single raven the whole trek. No crows, either, which brings me back to the no-go-crow zone question. Not enough to forage, or too much hassle from ravens and jays? It is increasingly weird to pop in and out of the two environments. In the city we have mockingbirds, crows, hummingbirds, pigeons, sparrows, and ravens. In the hills, and especially in the undeveloped scrub, we have jays, towhees, doves, quail, ravens. In GP there’s also a lot more wrens.

So this morning it’s just Sunset and LaBrea for the ravens, who left Runyon to the dog walkers, stroller pushers, and tourists.

Conditions: cloudy but clearing, mostly moderate, cool temps. . (Unseasonably so).

Posted by ravens at September 3rd, 2005

Conditions: sunny and warming (desert type air, even near the ocean)
Time: almost 11 a.m.
Two ravens encountered on trail heights, within sight of the large, concrete-topped reservoir; they sounded surprised, I think one had been on the ground just off the trail. They took to soarcling and quorking and slowly departed. Nice trail. Interestingly, very little in the way of tall trees except down towards Sunset Blvd. This area is much less affected by the sort of landscaping that GP tends to be saddled with. But the fact that only two ravens were seen or heard during the whole round trip leaves me holding on to my hypothesis that the human interventions in GP make that locale with a bigger population. How much of a factor that the biggest intervention – the zoo – makes, has yet to be investigated. I suppose I’ll have to pay my money and find out.

Posted by ravens at August 30th, 2005

I have yet to see any raven with food. I have a feeling late risers like me are unlikely to be at an advantage in observing serious foraging.

Posted by ravens at August 30th, 2005

of the season is How many breeding pairs are there in however much of L.A. that I can manage to cover? I have read about breeding density in Germany (sparse) and on islands (very dense). Although Dr. Heinrich mentioned a breeding pair in Bern, I haven’t seen anything else. Web sites indicate that UCLA harbors at least two nests, and I know the Furama Hotel has been the site of another.

Posted by ravens at August 30th, 2005

are ravens *not* in Los Angeles? They live where I live (Hollywood), and they live where I work (Del Rey Hills/Westchester/LAX). But do they live everywhere? If I lived in Venice, for instance, would I be likely to see them every day, or with the same frequency? In the Santa Monicas you have only to look or listen for a few minutes before they become obvious. Is it the same in Echo Park or Boyle Heights?