Common Ravens in Basking Ridge, 7-6-2011

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Jonathan Klizas

From Ben Barkley:

Hi all,

Today over my house in Basking Ridge I had a flock of 5 Common Ravens circling in an unusual kettle like formation. I have never seen Ravens act in this manner before, so it was very interesting to witness.

This entry was posted in Somerset County. Bookmark the permalink.

1 Response to Common Ravens in Basking Ridge, 7-6-2011

  1. ulogoni's avatar ulogoni says:
    July 12, 2011 at 1:35 pm

    Young and unmated ravens gather together in roosts to flirt and share information concerning the location of food. Mated ravens are highly territorial and will fiercely defend any scrap of carrion in their turf. A solitary raven would have little chance of securing a meal from hostile pairs, and so they gather together to overwhelm their defenses.

    Roosts vary in size. They can be large and traditional with stable locations, especially if there is a landfill nearby or other more certain food source. Or they can be smaller, roving camps that settle down near carcasses that don’t last quite so long. Ravens have also been known to form small foraging gangs that fan out from one of the large communal roost sites.

    When birds in a roost decide to move locations they fly high and circle to alert nearby roostmates that it is moving time. A clear signal that is easy to spot from some distance. The ravens you observed could have been connected to a roost or they could have been a mated pair gathering up and rallying with their own three fledglings before heading elsewhere.

    Reply

Leave a reply to ulogoni Cancel reply