Chihuahuan Raven
Chihuahuan Raven: Small raven, entirely metallic blue-black except for inconspicuous white neck feathers which are infrequently displayed. Eyes are pale brown. Alternates between several deep wing beats and short to long glides. Glides from altitude to perch or ground. Soars on thermals, updrafts.
● Song:
"crooaak", "quark-quark"
● Foraging & Feeding:
Chihuahuan Raven: Eats insects, especially grasshoppers and beetles, cultivated grains, small reptiles, cactus fruit, carrion, eggs and young of birds, and scraps of human food.
● Breeding & nesting:
Chihuahuan Raven: Three to eight dull green eggs, spotted and streaked with brown and purple, are laid in a loose nest made of thorny sticks, lined with grass, moss, and bark strips, and built in an exposed tree or on a telephone pole. Incubation ranges from 18 to 21 days and is carried out by both parents.
● Similar species:
Chihuahuan Raven: Crows are smaller, have squared tails, and different calls. Common Raven is larger with somewhat different call and occupies less arid habitats.