Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

Raven Family Over Sunset Park

IMG_8237The sound of Fish Crows made me look out the window late this morning. This was my view (well, with a little help from my camera) from up here on the Harbor Hill Moraine. And those are the crows on top of each of the neighboring water towers.Corvus coraxWhich makes these huge midnight figures on the far left of the building Common Ravens. A family of five!

Well, I was out the door pretty quickly, let me tell you. I’ve been particularly intrigued by Brooklyn ravens since New Year’s Day 2015, when a pair suddenly appeared down at the end of 39th St. Later I saw them gathering sticks for a nest around nearby Bush Terminal Park. I know the direction they took their sticks, the same direction I’ve seen them take food this year, but damned if I know where they nest. I’m just glad they do. Corvus coraxAnyway, Bush Terminal Park is pretty good place to see or hear them. They’re not present every visit, but enough to tell me they like the coastal route. Corvus coraxBut back to today: I’m 10 stories below these three youngsters. Corvus coraxBoth parents flew in as I watched, the second one looked like it had something in its bill. Gotta be a lot of appetite with these three, who are hopping and taking short coasting flights. As I was watching, a Kestrel, so tiny in comparison, made a U-turn over the building screaming bloody murder. Corvus coraxAwful lighting, but an unmistakable silhouette of one of the parents, with the great bill and the ruff-like throat feathers blowing in the breeze.Corvus corax

Corvus corax

13 responses to “Raven Family Over Sunset Park”

  1. Very cool sighting and post! Congratulations on finding their nesting sight.

    1. Actually, I don’t think this is the site. Think they all flew here to hang out and play.

  2. Amazing photos and great detective work. It must’ve been so thrilling to see a whole raven family!

  3. Great find Matthew. Love the pic showing the ruffled neck feathers.

    1. Thanks, Deborah. Sometimes I wish had your camera!

  4. […] was alerted to those Ravens by vocal Fish Crows (Corvus ossifragus). Here’s one from that morning, on a pole at the back […]

  5. […] giving me a good view of the tell-tale tail. Then it landed on one of the two water towers of the 39th Street building where I photographed the family of five last year. Luckily, I had my camera. A second bird soon joined the first. There was much rejoicing, I gather, […]

  6. […] has ever found the nest site. They’ve probably reproduced, though: in June, 2016, I spotted a family of five down the […]

  7. […] In 2016, I didn’t see them gathering nest material, but I saw the result. […]

  8. […] to see them. The Sunset Park/Green-Wood corridor has been a raven runway since. In 2016, I saw a family of five from my windows. Yes, this one broke off this twig. Experiment/play. All the pictures here are from […]

  9. […] Class of ’19. Class of ’16. […]

  10. […] year around this time I ran into a family of six in Green-Wood. In 2016, I had my first view of that year’s family in early […]

  11. […] I don’t know if these are the same two birds, but this year the Sunset Park Ravens had four fledglings. (There were three seen in 2016.) […]

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