{"id":4736,"date":"2014-03-31T17:44:57","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T23:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/earbirding.com\/blog\/?p=4736"},"modified":"2014-03-31T17:44:57","modified_gmt":"2014-03-31T23:44:57","slug":"common-vs-chihuahuan-ravens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earbirding.com\/blog\/archives\/4736","title":{"rendered":"Common vs. Chihuahuan Ravens"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Common<\/a>
Common Raven, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Photo by National Park Service (public domain).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every once in a while, somebody will put together a list of underappreciated identification challenges<\/a> among North American birds.\u00a0 Common and Chihuahuan Ravens always make the list.<\/p>\n

Here in Colorado, we have lots of ravens. Conventional wisdom says the ones on the southeastern plains are Chihuahuans, and the rest are Commons. But not everyone accepts the conventional wisdom. Some believe that Chihuahuan Ravens are not only the default raven in the southeast, but also regular wanderers north to the Wyoming border.\u00a0 Others maintain that to find a real Chihuahuan Raven, you have to go south of Colorado altogether.<\/p>\n

For a long time, I haven’t been sure what to believe.\u00a0 But I’ve been browsing my own audio collections and those online, and I’m starting to think that voice is actually a very good character — maybe the best field character — for separating these two species.\u00a0 I’m willing to be convinced otherwise, and I’m interested in hearing from anybody who has experience with these two birds.\u00a0 But at the moment, here’s what I think I know about the sounds.<\/p>\n

Chihuahuan Raven<\/h4>\n

It seems to me that Chihuahuan Raven may actually have one of the most predictable (least variable) voices of any North American corvid.\u00a0 Its classic call is a harsh “caw” that is deeper and much more coarsely burry than most “caws” of American Crow.\u00a0 It is of medium pitch<\/strong>, slightly nasal<\/strong>, and barely upslurred.<\/strong>\u00a0 It actually has something of a quacking quality<\/strong> — reminiscent of the harsh-sounding quacks<\/a> that female Mallards do when they’re agitated.<\/p>\n

Once you start comparing multiple recordings, this call of Chihuahuan Raven starts to seem remarkably consistent<\/strong> rangewide and from bird to bird:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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