Re: Raven calling at Pine Knob Road

Rick Blom (rblom@blazie.com)
Wed, 11 Feb 1998 19:51:14 -0500 

Rick Sussman wrote:

> I had a chance to listen to some audio tapes of the calls of Raven, American
>and Fish Crows and after listening, and based soley on this one set of tapes,
>I think the bird we heard was indeed a Northern Raven. Nothing else makes that
>deep resonant "cronking" sound. But as I said, this was based only on the
>Peterson audio tapes.

        It has been interesting to follow the thread about the calling bird
in Carroll County that some observers provisionally identified as a
Northern Raven. There are a couple of points worth keeping in mind.
        First, Northern Ravens have been expanding their range in Maryland,
moving slowly and steadily eastward. There have been raven records in the
past few years in Frederick County near the Carroll County line, and at
least two reports of birds both heard and seen in southeastern Carroll
County near the Patapsco River. While any record east of Sugarloaf Mountain
in Frederick County would be noteworthy, it would not be completely
unexpected.
        Second, the vocal repertoire of Fish and American Crows is
extraordinary and only a few of the most commonly given calls are on the
widely available tapes. Seventeen years ago I heard what I was certain was
a raven calling in a large group of crows gathered on the ground at Piney
Run Park in Carroll County. Many of the birds were calling and it appeared
they were mobbing something, but I was able to watch the group for a long
time. It dispersed slowly and no raven was present. I concluded that the
calls I thought were ravens' were being given by one of the crows. On two
occasions since I have heard calls that were very similar to that given by
a raven. In both cases there were large numbers of crows calling at the
time. It seems probable that there are crows that give raven-like calls,
especially in social situations involving agonistic behavior or large
numbers of birds.
        None of this argues for or against the bird being a raven, but it
would be nice if one were seen as well as heard.

Rick

"Everywhere I go I'm asked if the university stifles writers. My opinion is
that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a bestseller that could
have been prevented by a good teacher."  Flannery O'Connor

Rick Blom
rblom@blazie.com
Bel Air, Maryland