Corvus corax
Status: Rare casual resident and winter visitor west, west central, and north.
Documentation: Video, photos: 1-4 Jan 2021 Harrison, Sioux Co (DeLara, eBird.org).
Taxonomy: There are 11 subspecies recognized, three in North America; North American subspecies are principalis from northern Alaska to Newfoundland south to southwest British Columbia and Maine, in mountains to Pennsylvania and Georgia, sinuatus from eastern Washington to Montana south to south-central Arizona and Texas, and clarionensis from western Washington to southern California and southwest Arizona (Gill et al 2022).
Nebraska birds are presumed sinuatus, the subspecies that occurs in Colorado (Leukering 2015), although eastern reports may be of birds from areas to the north of Nebraska, such as principalis.
There is a “deep genetic split” between western US Common Ravens and those in the rest of the Western Hemisphere and the “Old World” (Boarman and Heinrich 2020). Recent genetic data suggest that western USA Common Ravens may be more closely related to the Chihuahuan Raven than they are to Common Ravens from Alaska, Minnesota and the Old World; Chihuahuan Raven probably diverged from western US Common Raven around one million years ago (Boarman and Heinrich 2020).
See “Comments” for discussion of field identification of the two North American raven species, and a historical perspective.
Resident: There are a few but increasing records since 2021, when the species was first documented in modern times for Nebraska. Sightings in 2021-2024 suggest possibly four or five groups including possibly four pairs in the northern Panhandle, occupying separate areas (eBird.org, accessed Dec 2023). Whether these mobile birds are entering Nebraska temporarily or are establishing resident territories is as yet uncertain, although sightings from 2021-2024 are grouped around four or five areas; breeding may have occurred at one location in northern Sioux Co in 2021. These areas are (1) a pair along Buckley Road southeast about 10 miles from Harrison and east along Highway 20 about 15 miles, (2) a pair in the Stegall Road area about 20 miles southwest of Scottsbluff, (3) a pair west of Harrison including Monroe Canyon, (4) a pair along the Wyoming border on Henry Road and Highway 29 north of Agate, and (5) a group of 1-3 about 7-15 miles south of Agate in the area of Highways 29 and 71.
In 2021, a single bird was present 1-4 Jan about five miles south of Harrison, Sioux Co on Highway 29 (Kathy DeLara, cited above), and later, in Apr, two birds were discovered about 12 miles away on Buckley Road 4 Apr by Colin Croft (photos, eBird.org). These two were seen and photographed by many 4 Apr-31 May (Brogie 2022; eBird.org) and were feeding on a cow carcass later in May. It is not known whether the single Jan bird was one of the Buckley Road pair. Later, on 13-14 Jun, two birds were in the area, and apparently nesting, as one carried a toad for at least a mile 14 Jun, possibly feeding young. Singles were seen in the area 23 Oct (Brogie 2022) and 27 Nov 2021, the latter “deemed inconclusive” as to species” (Brogie 2022). Possibly the same pair was found at Mile Marker 18 on Highway 20, Sioux Co 18 Dec 2021 some 9-10 miles north of the Buckley Road location (Brogie 2022; eBird.org). Two birds were seen in this same general area east of Harrison, Sioux Co 16 Oct and 21 Nov 2022 (Brogie 2023) and again 12 Jan and 23 Aug-6 Sep 2023; the latter observer stated these birds are “regularly seen in the Harrison area” (Stephen Brenner).
In 2022, a single bird was photographed at Stegall Road and County Road X, Scotts Bluff Co 8-9 Jun (Olivia DaRugna, Stephen Brenner; Brogie 2023). The observers’ description follows: “Large Corvid with massive bill, long head, bulky overall, long wings. Tail large and not squared off as in crow – not classically wedged but photos show tail feathers rather worn and frayed. Soared with minimal flapping when flying. Heard a few distinct, guttural croaks. Photos. Bird was perching just beyond small prairie dog colony on north side of road, very close to checklist point location. Flew back to hills out of sight after about 2 mins of distant obs.” In 2023 two were in the Stegall Road area along County Road X between CRs 6 and 7 from 19 Jun through 11 Jul (Olivia DaRugna, eBird.org).
There are 11 reports of 1-2 birds 11 Oct 22 through 2 Mar 2024, including four summer reports Jun-Aug, along Highway 29 and nearby Highway 71 south of Agate. These sightings may be of the same pair.
Near the Wyoming border west of Agate and about 15 miles southwest of Harrison, there are three reports of 1-2 birds: 30 Dec 2022 (Brogie 2023), and two sightings a few miles apart 25 May 2023 (eBird.org, accessed Nov 2023). These may be a pair with a territory across the border in Wyoming.
Winter 2023-2024 added to sightings in the above areas; reports suggest four or five pairs: Along Highway 20 east and west of Harrison, south of Harrison north of Agate, south of Agate and nearby Highway 71, along Henry Road west of Agate, and Stegall Road. As part of the Harrison CBC on 5 Jan, one team found three pairs; these were at Gilbert-Baker WMA, Sioux Co, west of Harrison on Highway 20, and south of Harrison and north of Agate on Highway 29 in Sioux Co, although two of the pairs may have been duplicates. One or two were in the latter area 27 Jan. A pair along Highway 88 in Banner Co 18 Feb was probably the pair reported previously along Stegall Road southwest of Scottsbluff. South of Agate on Highway 29 and nearby to the east along Highway 71 pairs were noted 17 and 20 Dec and 6 Feb; these are likely different birds from those reported north of Agate and may involve two groups or wandering birds.
Somewhat intriguing are several reports from the Sandhills, although these lack documentation: Short (1961) noted “small numbers” near Halsey, Thomas Co 12-13 Jun 1955, north of Halsey 14 Jun 1955, and near Valentine, Cherry Co 14-15 Jun 1955, although Bray (1994) considered these sightings doubtful. Rosche (1972) saw a single bird 23 Jun 1972 at Valentine NWR, and one in Cherry Co 29 Sep 2007 was not accepted by NOURC (Brogie 2008). Four were described near Bassett, Rock Co 26 May 2017, but inadequately documented (Brogie 2018).
Winter: Unfortunately, Nebraska reports of Common Raven, though numerous, had been poorly documented, if at all, until 2021. Most were in the period Sep-May. We accept the following three reports prior to 2021:
28 Oct 2006 Valentine NWR, Cherry Co (NOURC accepted as “Raven, sp.”; Brogie 2007)
7 Nov 1936 Peru, Nemaha Co (Hudson 1937)
12 Nov 1900 Kearney, Buffalo Co, measurements cited (Bray et al 1986)
Reports which we consider possible but unproven, include the following: 29 Dec 2006 Brown Co (accepted by NOURC as “Raven, sp.”), 5 Jan 2002 east of Pine Bluffs, Wyoming in Kimball Co (Silcock 2003), 14 Feb 2000 two in Keith Co, 8 Jan 2018 Kimball Co, and 22 May 2009 Enders Reservoir, Chase Co.
Following, for completeness, we list all other reports, some of which may possibly be correct, but none acceptably documented. There are four Scotts Bluff Co reports: 26 May 1958, 1 Apr 1962, one in a yard at Gering 2 Feb 1983, and at about the same time four reported from a canyon southwest of Gering (Cortelyou 1983). Additional reports in and near the Panhandle are of one viewed briefly 1 Jan 2018 Red Willow Co, one seen along Interstate 80 in Kimball Co 8 Jan 2018, one over Dundy Co 20 Apr 2005, 12 May 2019 Monroe Canyon, Sioux Co (Tonnessen, eBird.org; not accepted by NOURC, Brogie 2020), one reported based on calls heard in the “cliff forests” of Fort Robinson SP, Dawes Co 30 May 1999, another that gave its “typical raven call” while kettling with Turkey Vultures which roosted in pines at Chadron SP, Dawes Co 20 Sep 2001, and 15+ “circling” over Sowbelly Canyon, Sioux Co 29 Oct 2004. One reported at Kearney, Buffalo Co 16 Oct 2021 was not accepted by NOURC (Brogie 2022). A report of two in Seward Co 13 Apr 2022 was not accepted by NOURC (Brogie 2023).
Several observers reported three Common Ravens at the North Platte Applebee’s Restaurant for the North Platte CBC 22 Dec 2015. The next day, one was at the local Burger King, and another was seen nearby. They were not seen again, and none were photographed. These reports were not accepted by the NOURC; the single submitted report, for 23 Dec 2015, lacked a photo and no vocalizations were heard (Brogie 2016). Nearby, but a year later, two that were heard to “croak” were reported at a North Platte Wendy’s restaurant 27 Feb 2016.
Comments: Several authors have described the difficulty of field identification of the two North American raven species; Leukering (2015) concluded they were “at the very least quite difficult to separate, if they’re definitively and reliably separable at all”. Similarly, Pieplow (2017) noted “These two species present one of the most difficult identification problems among North American birds.” One feature often touted as an important difference is length of the nasal bristles, but this, too, may not be useful in the field (Pieplow and Spencer 2019).
The historical record is weak, but based on anecdotal evidence, Common Raven apparently occurred statewide and was fairly common until about 1877, when the disappearance of bison led to its rapid decline (Bruner et al 1904, Johnsgard 1980). Ducey (1988) listed sightings, including an 1820 breeding record, for the Missouri River Valley prior to 1900. This record was by Thomas Say at Engineer Cantonment, Washington Co and involved adults and young birds nearly able to fly (Mollhoff 2022). During the 20th Century, reports were sporadic and undocumented (Sharpe et al 2001); the only accepted reports in that period are discussed above.
In recent years, however, numbers are increasing on the Great Plains east of the Rocky Mountains, generally west and south of Nebraska. There are now 33 reports for South Dakota, most relatively recent; 20 of the reports are Oct-Dec, none in Jan-Mar (David Swanson, personal communication). In eastern Colorado numbers are increasing along the Front Range; there are several reports from counties adjacent to Nebraska, including Yuma, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, Logan and Weld (eBird.org, accessed Nov 2023). In Wyoming, “anecdotal evidence implies an increase in numbers in recent years near their eastern range limits” at Casper and Wheatland (Faulkner 2010), and there are numerous reports along the border with Nebraska (eBird.org, accessed Nov 2023). In Kansas, Common Raven has only recently returned, when a pair nested in Morton Co in the southwest (Thompson et al 2011). In Oklahoma, Common Ravens are “getting out in the open plains, and should be considered a viable option, in winter especially” (Joseph Grzybowski, personal communication).
As suggested in the previous paragraph, recent occurrence in western Nebraska should not be unexpected from fall through spring. American Crows, often observed in flight and at a distance, have been reported as Common Ravens on a number of occasions, usually by non-residents unfamiliar with the status of Common Raven in the state. Given these considerations, a conservative reviewer could defensibly conclude that there is insufficient evidence that Common Raven has occurred in Nebraska since 1900 (until 2021). Here, we have chosen to cite reports which we believe may be correct identifications based on details submitted by the observers, including those submitted to, reviewed by, and accepted by NOURC. Some reports below were accepted by NOURC as “Raven, sp.”; for example, one in Brown Co 29 Dec 2006 was not accepted because it “was not heard” (Brogie 2008) but it seems highly unlikely this could have been a Chihuahuan Raven at that location and date.
Images
Abbreviations
CBC: Christmas Bird Count
NOURC: Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee
NWR: National Wildlife Refuge
SP: State Park
Literature Cited
Boarman, W.I. and B. Heinrich. 2020. Common Raven (Corvus corax), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.comrav.01.
Bray, T.E. 1994. Habitat utilization by birds in a man-made forest in the Nebraska Sandhills. MS thesis, University of Nebraska-Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska.
Bray, T.E., B.K. Padelford, and W.R. Silcock. 1986. The Birds of Nebraska: A critically evaluated list. Published by the authors, Bellevue, Nebraska, USA.
Brogie, M.A. 2007. 2006 (18th) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 75: 86-94.
Brogie, M.A. 2008. 2007 (19th) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 76: 111-119.
Brogie, M.A. 2016. 2015 (27th) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 84: 138-150.
Brogie, M.A. 2018. 2017 (29th) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 86: 131-142.
Brogie, M.A. 2020. 2019 (31st) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 88: 124-134.
Brogie, M.A. 2022. 2021 (33rd) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 90: 113-122.
Brogie, M.A. 2023. 2022 (34th) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 91: 114-122.
Bruner, L., R.H. Wolcott, and M.H. Swenk. 1904. A preliminary review of the birds of Nebraska, with synopses. Klopp and Bartlett, Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
Cortelyou, R.G. 1983. 1983 (Fifty-eighth) Spring Occurrence Report. NBR 51: 66-78.
Ducey, J.E. 1988. Nebraska birds, breeding status and distribution. Simmons-Boardman Books, Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
Faulkner, D.W. 2010. Birds of Wyoming. Roberts and Company, Greenwood Village, Colorado, USA.
Gill, F., D. Donsker, and P. Rasmussen (Eds). 2022. IOC World Bird List (v 12.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.12.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
Hudson, G.E. 1937. The American Raven and American Magpie at Peru, Nemaha County. NBR 5: 13.
Johnsgard, P. A. 1980. A preliminary list of the birds of Nebraska and adjacent Great Plains states. Published by the author, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA.
Leukering, T. 2015. Ravens in Colorado: An Impossible Field Identification? Colorado Birds 49: 255-262.
Mollhoff, W.J. 2022. Nest records of Nebraska birds. Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Occasional Paper Number 9.
Pieplow, N. 2017. Field Guide to Bird Sounds of Eastern North America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, New York.
Pieplow, N., and A. Spencer. 2019. A quantitative study of the bristle length in the Common and Chihuahuan Ravens. Western Birds 50 :255–259. doi 10.21199/WB50.4.4.
Rosche, R.C. 1972. Notes on the distribution of some summer birds in Nebraska. NBR 40: 70-72.
Sharpe, R.S., W.R. Silcock, and J.G. Jorgensen. 2001. The Birds of Nebraska: Their Distribution and Temporal Occurrence. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
Short, L.L., Jr. 1961. Notes on bird distribution in the central Plains. NBR 29: 2-22.
Silcock, W.R. 2003. Winter Field report, December 2002 to February 2003. NBR 71: 2-24.
Thompson, M.C., C.A. Ely, B. Gress, C. Otte, S.T. Patti, D. Seibel, and E.A. Young. 2011. Birds of Kansas. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA.
Recommended Citation
Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 2024. Common Raven (Corvus corax), Version 1.0. In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org
Birds of Nebraska – Online
Updated 24 Mar 2024