Common Raven
(Corvus corax) Y |
 |
RANGE: Resident from Alaska and northern Canada
south through the western United States to Baja California and
Mexico, and east to the eastern edge of the Rockies, western
Oklahoma, and central Texas; east of the Rockies, south to
central Saskatchewan, northern Wisconsin, southern Ontario,
Vermont, and southeastern Maine; also locally in the
Appalachians to northwestern Georgia.
STATUS: Common to locally common; reinvading its historic range
and colonizing new areas.
HABITAT: Occurs in a wide variety of habitats but is most often
found in open woodlands and mountainous and coastal regions.
Inhabits rocky seacoasts, steep canyons, boreal forests,
deserts, foothills, mountains, arctic tundra, and wooded marine
islands. Tends to avoid extensive, dense forests.
SPECIAL HABITAT REQUIREMENTS: Cliff ledges or tall trees for
nesting. Strongest nesting habitat association along the
edges of cropland, pasture and orchard.
NEST: Usually builds nest high up in a tall coniferous tree or
on a cliff ledge that is sheltered overhead and undercut or
nearly vertical below. Generally selects locations inaccessible
to humans and will sometimes use the same site in successive
years.
FOOD: Scavenge for road kills along highways, and eats small
mammals, reptiles, frogs, eggs, young and wounded birds,
insects, mollusks, cultivated grains, mast, fruits, and other
plant material. Eats all types of carrion, from small to large
mammals to fishes.
REFERENCES: Adamus et al. 2001, DeGraff et al. 1980, Goodwin
1976, Harlow et al. 1975, Hooper 1977, Johnsgard 1979, Knight
and Call 1980, Miller 1999, Shunk 2004, Terrill in Farrand
1983b, White and Cade 1971, Wilmore 1977. |
