Ravens on Fiesta Island

Yesterday I walked with my dog at my favorite dog walking place. It was about 7:30 which is late to see birds. The heat was already up and the usual Western Meadowlarks and Horned Larks were wherever they go to avoid the heat. The space was empty of birds. Except for a Great Blue Heron fishing there were none to see. Disappointed, I wasn’t going to get the peaceful high I get from looking closely at birds. I carried my Bruntons anyway and walked for 45 minutes.

There are two eucalyptus trees in the dog section where sometimes I see Cooper’s Hawks and last year a beautiful American Kestrel. Ever hopeful I spotted a large shape on a branch and my spirits perked up. I adjusted the eyepieces on my binoculars and took an expectant look. Two Common Ravens!

I just finished reading Mind of the Raven by Bernd Heinrich, biology professor at U Vermont, and avid corvidologist. His passion is ravens and he has spent almost 20 years studying them. Apparently ravenologists exist in all countries and they are an unusual breed. They believe in observation up close so they are tree climbers, placing themselves very close to nests. In the 90′s Heinrich removed several baby ravens from their nest to raise by hand and study their behaviors. His justification for robbing the nests was science. I suppose it is our gain that he did it because he accumulated a vast amount of data by observing them up close. He detailed interesting insights accrued from living with his ravens – about their play, their use of tools, their communication patterns, their humor and intelligence, and their pair bonding. One male raven who was his favorite was ready to mate and Heinrich guessed with certainty who his mate would be. But nature had its own way. Heinrich’s aviary allowed wild birds to come and go freely and one day a female raven flew in and she had one white feather.

There must have been an instant attraction between them because they began a process of “getting to know” each other, displaying prowess, power, beauty, indifference and interest. He told her he was powerful and she responded that she was powerful too. After several hours “white feather” as she was to be named signaled that he was acceptable and he moved to the left side of her and put his right foot on her left foot. That was all she wrote!

At least ten years passed before Heinrich published Mind of the Raven, and during those years he observed the paired couple raising many broods. He said every afternoon that the two ravens would fly to a nearby tree to sit quietly and watch the world go by, and every night when they went to sleep, the male would put his right foot on her left foot.

I thought about that as I observed the pair on the eucalyptus. Both birds were big and their tails were long and formed the identifying wedge shape. The two sat apart but made croaking noises and sweet melodic sounds non-stop. Their beaks were large and when they soared off their wings were broad. I could see the longer primaries with more slotting between them. Confirmed! They were Common Ravens, not American Crows! The process of seeing, looking closely and integrating the visual with the knowledge I had learned from the Cornell site came through, leaving me calm and smiling.