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What species of raven do we have in San Diego(CA). The only one I can find that sounds like the ones I see around here is the chihuahuan raven. My bird book and all the web sites I've visited don't show its range as being anywhere in CA.

You should have only the Common raven. How large are the ones you see? A Chihuahuan is only slightly larger than a crow; the Common is huge. The calls are similar, but the Common's is slightly lower pitched.

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"I put it down. you gotta pick it up." —Thelonious Monk

In that area, you should only have the Common Raven

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The photo shown is Barnie. My faithful and loving companion of 18 years, who passed into the next life on 11-8-2008. God rest her soul! She's missed!

I finally got to see the common raven in Juneau(AK). They were much bigger than what I've seen here. Maybe we have them in rural areas out here. I live in the burbs and haven't seen one.I have seen birds that look like oversized crows, but they're not crows. They have heavier, slightly curvy beaks. We have scads of crows here so it's easy to see the difference(Incidentally my parents don't recall seeing such large numbers of crows when they were growing up here). I'll try to catch a picture of what I believe to a raven and post it.

Ok, this is probably a long shot...  Any chance they have longer tails than you see on most crows or ravens?  If so, they might be Great-tailed Grackles, which would fit with your location.

This is a Great Tail Grackle

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Did they get you to trade, your hero's for ghosts?

I had tentatively ID'd this pair of ravens as Chihuahuan, but would appreciate a confirmation from the forum. Pic was taken on a cool drizzly day at about 7000' elevation in the mountains near Tucson AZ. Thanks for the input!

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Everything under the sun is in tune
But the sun is eclipsed by the moon.

Yep, you are correct - a Common Raven has a longer bill, and shorter nasal bristles.

Thanks! Since this was during breeding season, I'm assuming this is a male/female pair. Do you know which would be which? The one looks gray-ish, but it could be an extra fluffing of feathers because of the cool wet weather that day.

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Everything under the sun is in tune
But the sun is eclipsed by the moon.

I'm no raven expert, but jmmoon's pair looks more like Common Raven to me, not only the bill structure, but the simple fact that it's up in the mountains 7,000 ft up and in the middle of the woods seems impossible for Chihuahuan Raven. Chihuahuan Ravens tend to be inhabitants of deserts, not mountains.

Hope this helps!

 

 

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featherbrain

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> The one looks gray-ish

If going by the picture, the color difference may just be due to the type of feather we see in the photo; ie, wing feathers versus the body feathers reflecting the ambient light differently.

I understand the confusion about desert vs mountains, but our mountains are what are called 'sky islands', and are completely surrounded by desert. A lot of our desert area birds move up and down the slope depending on the temperature on the desert floor. I believe it was over 100 that day in Tucson---but definitely drizzly and in the 60s there on the mountain.

 

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Everything under the sun is in tune
But the sun is eclipsed by the moon.