Chihuahuan Raven in the Sonoran Desert
Slightly smaller than other raven species found around the world and about the size of the American crow, this Mexican raven may look like any other raven, but the differences stop there. Most notably, the under-feathers on its neck are pure white. In the dry grasslands of the American Southwest it replaces the common raven (Corvus corax) of the north and breeds in the Southwestern United States, but it is far more common to the south in Mexico where it is found year-round. At northern end of range (eastern Colorado, western Kansas), the Chihuahuan raven is far less common today than in 1800s. I saw this one quite by accident as I was setting up my tent and cooking some dinner on my travels on a small ground fire on top of a hill overlooking Sonoyta, Mexico in Southern Arizona on the US-Mexico border. It got my attention by crowing on top of an almost-flowering saguaro cactus while I was waiting for the water to boil on my camp stove.
- Copyright
- ©2015
- Image Size
- 6000x4000 / 12.8MB
- Keywords
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Ajo, Ajo Range, Angiosperms, Animalia, Arizona, Aves, C. cryptoleucus, C. gigantea, Cactaceae, Cactoideae, Carnegiea, Carnegiea gigantea, Caryophyllales, Cereus giganteus, Chihuahuan raven, Chordata, Corvidae, Corvus, Corvus cryptoleucus, Eudicots, OPCNM, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Pachycereeae, Passeriformes, Pima County, Plantae, Saguaro, Sonoran Desert, Twin Peaks, Twin Peaks Campground, animal, arborescent, arid, ave, avian, beak, beautiful, beauty, bird, birdwatching, black, black bird, blackbird, botany, cacti, cactus, corvid, desert, dicot, fauna, feather, flora, giant cactus, green, heat, hurt, monotypic, native, natural, nature, ornithology, pain, painful, perennial, pitahaya, plant, poke, prickle, prickly, raven, sahuaro, sharp, southwest, spike, spiky, spring, succulent, thorn, thorny, tree, tree-like, vertebrate, west, western, white, wild, wildlife, wing
- Contained in galleries
- Crows, Ravens, Magpies & Jays
