The Competition
The raven are ”cheesy-friendly” at Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley. I hear they are in Furnace Creek too. By “cheesy-friendly”, I mean, if you have some little cheese snacks in your hand, they will be your best buddies. Note that they are just using you.
I try not to harass wildlife. However, I won’t let that keep me from a good snack. Once, at the Stovepipe Wells general store, I bought me a cup of coffee and a doughnut. I sat on the bench out front and started on my little breakfast. The raven just started hopping right on up to where I was sitting, bird-begging.
“Mmmm”, I said. “This is the best doughnut I’ve ever had.” The birds came up a little closer. My movements became exaggerated and grandiose. The black birds came up even closer. I took my camera and started snapping away. I came away from it with some great shots. The ravens?- That’s their problem. They want food, they can find it somewhere else.
All over the desert I see red-tailed hawks. They soar and glide effortlessly without moving a wing. It’s all done with the feathers on the wing tips. Raven are not quite so coordinated. They perform a different function and have a different wing structure. Over the years it has become relatively easy to tell the difference between the two creatures from a distance. I just count the seconds. If the bird can go for more than 17 seconds without pumping its wings, it’s probably a hawk. Raven just don’t have the soaring control of a hawk.
Hawks are hunters, and will scavenge. Raven are scavengers, but will help a varmint die if it will hurry their meal along. Raven and hawks compete. I noticed years ago that raven harrass red-tails. First I watched a couple raven work to lure a hawk from her nest- Then they raided it. “Poor, poor noble hawk”, I thought.
Then I noticed that a lot of really small birds (not sure if it’s only one kind or several), harrass ravens. Then there’s other one-sided battles going on; for instance, scrub jays buzzing quail. The competition for airspace and food is tough.
Now the cool part- in Joshua tree forests, if you notice an area/canyon that’s particularly void of raven and hawks, chances are there’s an owl nearby. Owls take them right out of the action- permanently. Apparently owls don’t mess with harrassment, they just kill ‘em.
So yesterday, watching a pair of raven hooking madly across the sky at sunset. Thought at first they could lose their way after dark (?). Nope, the area I was in was thick with Joshua trees- Probably owl country. These birds were in fear.
Now it’s fun watching the fights no matter who’s involved.