The Ravens in Queens have Fledged

By Corey • June 8, 2010 • 7 comments

The first ever documented nesting of Common Ravens in New York City ended successfully, with all three nestlings becoming fledglings. The happy change in status from nest-bound birds to flappy free fliers occurred over the last week, with the birds leaving the nest on May 31 and walking along the water tower support on which their nest was built and gradually branching out from there. Yesterday morning, June 7, was the first day that no ravens were detected at the nest site, despite my assiduous efforts.

A parent myself now, and proud of each and every new action my son takes, I can’t help but wonder if inside the minds of Corvus corax parents there isn’t some pride as well. After all, raising kids anywhere is hard enough, and successfully raising kids out-of-doors in New York City on a diet of scavenged food can’t be the least bit easy.

Below is the last decent shot I got of any of the ravens; in it a freshly-fledged youngster begs for food from an adult while one of the fledgling’s siblings watches from the nest.

I can only hope that the ravens return to nest again next year, as they reportedly did last year and they obviously did this year…after all, who can resist nesting ravens?

For those who want to see some better images of the youngsters go check out Fotoportmann.

Tags: features, fledglings, Queens, ravens

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About the Author

Corey

Corey is a New Yorker who has lived most of his life upstate but has spent the last three years in Queens. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy, their son, Desmond Shearwater, and their two indoor cats, Hunter and B.B.

7 Responses to “The Ravens in Queens have Fledged”

Carrie Jun 8th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
Like!
Donna Jun 8th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
I was wondering how they were doing. This is all very exciting.
Jochen Jun 9th, 2010 at 3:48 am
My feelings about the Queens Ravens are very ambivalent (unless someone discovered they were really not Ravens but Lizard People, which would be only cool):
I do like the idea of them breeding in Queens.
However, I have this emotional association of Ravens inhabiting wild and natural places and that if you see a Raven, you have finally made it out of that danged hell we call civilization and into the place where you – which here means I – belong.
To be honest, the Queens Ravens somewhat spoil that image, although the exception could be taken as proof for the validity of the rule (as we say in German).
I’ve heard though that Brooklyn is a rather wild place and a confirmation of this might safe the day.
Corey Jun 9th, 2010 at 8:15 am
@Jochen: Maybe it’s that Queens is moving towards becoming a more natural place rather than the ravens moving towards civilization? Wouldn’t that be nice?
And Brooklyn sucks. That is all we need to know about that borough.
Arie Jun 9th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
Are the fledgelings still around or have they flown the coop?
BTW, some say that the appearance of Ravens in this and other places may be due to West Nile virus and the lack of crow harassment, FWIW.
Corey Jun 9th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
@Arie: Flown the coop.
Jean L. Jun 10th, 2010 at 12:08 am
That is amazing, because yesterday (Tues 6/8 approx 3pm)I brought someone over to see them and they were out of the nest, but did not yet appear to be trying to fly. We observed one of the parents trying various ways of coaxing them, such as perching nearby with some tasty morsel and doing fly-bys making a big show of spreading and flapping wings. The fledgelings didn’t seem interested in anything other than complaining, rather loudly I might add. Believe me, anyone who lives on that block must have been going crazy with all that noise!