Drop: frequent method of leaving a high perch like a tree or billboard with a minimum of flapping (helps to tell ravens from crows). A strangely simple and graceful move.
Gliding: a long, straight glide high across the landscape from one point to another (I have mainly seen it when a bird is moving from one region to another, as from Mt. Hollywood in Griffith Park to Chinatown; the lack of apparent deviation from the straight line suggests a specific destination. Another reason to have really good binoculars. Ravens will often soarcle up from the Flats in Hollywood until they can see as much as they want to see, and then glide off into the distance to some destination clearly known to them.
Quork: Bernd Heinrich’s transliteration of a common raven vocalization. I think I know the one he means, but I hear it more as a Hwowk (west coast accent?) Not, so far as I know, intended to mean the crow-like caw (rawk! rawk!) that ravens make on other occasions, such as being followed around Griffith Park by curious humans. Quorks seem to be directed at specific other individuals, like the mate or passers-by, while cawing is a general alarm and macho posture. There is a recording here that purports to be quorking, but it’s a slightly different vocalization than the one I was thinking of : or else there is a slight difference between in-flight quorking and quorking while perched.
Scliding: gliding low along ridges or slopes, usually following the contour of the land at one altitude, often along the same ridges that people use to navigate the hillside parks in the Santa Monicas. Is it foraging? One would think that a minimum of terrain would be visible; maybe they are trying to sneak up on small birds or animals? Maybe they just like doing it. Suspect the location of rising hot air also has a lot to do with location of this form of movement.
Soarcling: Like a raptor’s soaring but with a lot of circling. I just like the word.