The Chihuahuan raven (''Corvus cryptoleucus'') is a species in the family

Corvidae Corvidae is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan Family (biology), family of Songbird, oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, Rook (bird), rooks, magpies, jackdaws, jays, treepies, choughs, and Nutcracker (bird), nutcrackers ...

that is native to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Description

The proportions resemble the common raven with a heavy bill, but is about the same size as a carrion crow, or slightly larger than the American crow ( long). The plumage is all-black with a rich purple-blue gloss in good light. Like the

forest raven The forest raven (''Corvus tasmanicus''), also commonly known as the Tasmanian raven, is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae native to Tasmania and parts of southern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, such as Wilsons Promontory and Portland, ...

, little raven, fan-tailed raven and

Australian raven The Australian raven (''Corvus coronoides'') is a passerine Corvidae, corvid bird native to Australia. Measuring in length, it has an all-black plumage, beak and mouth, as well as strong, greyish-black legs and feet. The upperparts of its body ...

, it is one of the smaller raven species. The larger species of raven are the common raven, thick-billed raven, white-necked raven and brown-necked raven, with the common and thick-billed ravens being the world's largest raven species and the little and fan-tailed ravens being the smallest. The Chihuahuan raven is similar in appearance to the

, although with dark brown irises and whiter feather bases. The nasal bristles extend further down the top of the bill than in any other '' Corvus'' species to about two-thirds the length. In addition, the Chihuahuan raven is similar in appearance to the white-necked raven of east Africa because the base of the neck has feathers that are white-ish (seen only when ruffled in strong wind). The bill, legs and feet are black.

Distribution and habitat

The Chihuahuan raven occurs in the Southwestern and Midwestern

and northern

, including southeastern

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, southern

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, southeastern

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, western

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, western

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, and southern and western

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Behavior

Diet

It feeds on cultivated cereal

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s and many other

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

s, small

reptile Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

carrion Carrion (), also known as a carcass, is the decaying flesh of dead animals. Overview Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures ...

cactus A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s, eggs and nestlings.

Nesting

The nest is built in either trees, large shrubs or sometimes even in old buildings. There are usually 5–7 eggs laid relatively late in the year during May so as to take advantage of the insect food for their young in their more arid environment. Both the males and females incubate the eggs, feed the young, and remain territorial in protecting the nesting area. In rare cases, outsiders may be allowed into the territory to communally defend against potential predators.

Voice

The voice is similar to that of the common raven with ''"pruk-pruk"'' sounds and other croaks at slightly higher pitches. Like all corvids, the Chihuahuan raven is capable of vocal mimicry. However, this behavior is mostly recorded in captivity and rarely in the wild.

Taxonomy

A 2005 molecular study reviewed segments of DNA of the common raven and found that Chihuahuan raven are genetically nested within common ravens based on

mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondrion, mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the D ...

. That is, common ravens from the California

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

are more similar in mtDNA to Chihuahuan ravens than they are to common ravens in the

Holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical reg ...

Clade.

References

External links

Photo of Chihuahuan Raven

Photos and videos
on Birds of the world

including Breeding Bird Survey and Christmas Bird Count range maps.
Chihuahuan Raven photo gallery
VIREO {{Taxonbar, from=Q997604 Chihuahuan raven Chihuahuan raven Native birds of the Plains-Midwest (United States) Native birds of the Southwestern United States Fauna of the Chihuahuan Desert Birds of the Rio Grande valleys Birds of Mexico Chihuahuan raven Chihuahuan raven