Larch Creek Birds

What the birds (and frogs) are saying at a creek in western Washington
Plate 5
Common Raven
Allan Brooks, Dawson's The Birds of Washington, 1909
Bird

Common Raven

Corvus corax
Crows, Jays, and Magpies (Corvidae)
Year-round resident. Expected at the creek in every month.
Field marks
A huge, glossy black corvid with a wedge-shaped tail, shaggy throat feathers and a heavy bill. Soars, tumbles and flies upside down for fun in a way crows never do.
Male & female
Alike; males average larger.
Voice
Deep croaks, hollow knocking 'tok-tok', bell-like notes and gurgles: a vocabulary of several dozen sounds, most of them commentary.
Diet
Carrion first, then anything: small animals, eggs, grain, berries, garbage, and the lunch of anyone who looks away.
Habitat
Forests, mountains, coasts; in the Puget lowlands wherever big conifers and a bit of wild country remain.
Nesting
A large stick nest on a cliff or in a tall conifer, reused for years; 3–7 eggs laid as early as February.
Size
22–26 in long, a 4-ft wingspan, 1½–3½ lb: the weight of a hefty laptop, and rather better at problem-solving.

Ravens mate for life and a pair patrols its territory year-round, so the same two birds are likely behind most of the croaking at the creek. They will have noticed the microphone.

Season how expected it is here, week by week

50%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecheard at the creektoday
Fig. 1. BirdNET's range model for this location: the chance this species is present in each week of the year. Orange ticks mark weeks it has actually been heard at the creek; the dashed line is today.

At the creek 96 calls on 4 days, first Oct 28, last Oct 31

81500:00 — 0 calls001:00 — 2 calls02:00 — 0 calls03:00 — 0 calls304:00 — 0 calls05:00 — 0 calls06:00 — 0 calls607:00 — 1 calls08:00 — 10 calls09:00 — 5 calls910:00 — 7 calls11:00 — 15 calls12:00 — 10 calls1213:00 — 7 calls14:00 — 6 calls15:00 — 12 calls1516:00 — 6 calls17:00 — 6 calls18:00 — 6 calls1819:00 — 0 calls20:00 — 1 calls21:00 — 1 calls2122:00 — 0 calls23:00 — 1 callssunrisesunset
Fig. 2. When it calls: all detections by hour of day (today's sunrise and sunset shown).
3061Oct 2 — 0 callsOct 3 — 0 callsOct 3Oct 4 — 0 callsOct 5 — 0 callsOct 6 — 0 callsOct 7 — 0 callsOct 8 — 0 callsOct 9 — 0 callsOct 10 — 0 callsOct 10Oct 11 — 0 callsOct 12 — 0 callsOct 13 — 0 callsOct 14 — 0 callsOct 15 — 0 callsOct 16 — 0 callsOct 17 — 0 callsOct 17Oct 18 — 0 callsOct 19 — 0 callsOct 20 — 0 callsOct 21 — 0 callsOct 22 — 0 callsOct 23 — 0 callsOct 24 — 0 callsOct 24Oct 25 — 0 callsOct 26 — 0 callsOct 27 — 0 callsOct 28 — 1 callsOct 29 — 23 callsOct 30 — 11 callsOct 31 — 61 callsOct 31
Fig. 3. Calls per day over the last 30 days.

Recordings

Clearest recording · Oct 29 5:03 pm · 99% sure
spectrogram
Recent · Oct 31 9:04 pm · 91% sure
spectrogram
Recent · Oct 31 6:12 pm · 87% sure
spectrogram
Recent · Oct 31 5:04 pm · 89% sure
spectrogram

From the encyclopedia

The common raven or northern raven is a large all-black passerine bird. It is the most widely distributed of all corvids, found across the Northern Hemisphere. There are 11 accepted subspecies with little variation in appearance, although recent research has demonstrated significant genetic differences among populations from various regions. It is one of the two largest corvids, alongside the thick-billed raven, and is the heaviest passerine bird; at maturity, the common raven averages 63 centimetres in length and 1.47 kilograms in weight, up to 2 kg (4.4 lb) in the heaviest individuals. Although their typical lifespan is considerably shorter, common ravens can live more than 23 years in the wild. Young birds may travel in flocks but later mate for life, with each mated pair defending a territory.
From Wikipedia, "Common raven", CC BY-SA 4.0.