Chihuahuan Ravens Nesting on Dyess AFB


CHRA_wedgetail

While out at Dyess birding in a Mesquite scrub area at the end of March, a Chihuahuan Raven shot out of a tree and soared above me cawing loudly. I watched it circle around me (of course I was capturing this behavior digitally, see above) and wondered why it was so agitated. When I heard a second raven call, I knew there had to be a nest nearby. A few minutes of diligently picking my way around lotebush, prickly pear, and everything else thorny, I located a nest high atop a Mesquite:

CHRA_onnest

Over the next two months John and I observed and documented the ravens at the nest. John captured a parent feeding the young:

CHRA

and I probably took the last picture of the young in the nest. Where the nest is located is hard to reach; the area floods when it rains (and it’s been raining a lot); the Mesquite foliage thickened and blocked the view; and mosquitoes are fairly bothersome. But we slogged through the sticky mud and biting bugs and captured some pictures of the nesting ravens. So if you want to see more raven pictures and maybe learn a thing or two about Chihuahuans, go to Chihuahuan Raven Gallery, and enjoy!