On Fri, 30 Dec 1994, David Bailey wrote:
> >
>
> Speaking of corvids, does anyone know what Ravens find to eat up there in
> the Cascades in the winter? I have thought that they might be surviving
> on roadkills, but how do they manage in more desolate areas? I've
> sometimes even seen them in large flocks.
>

Well, if they are similar in habits to the Ravens in Maine in the winter,
they probably range far and wide to feed on carrion. One dead elk
provides a lot of raven food, and for a long time if it's frozen. If you
get a chance to read the book "Ravens in Winter" by Bernd Heinrich, you
will learn quite a bit about the foraging ecology of Ravens. Heinrich has
a gift for describing the process of "doing science" and bringing the
reader along with him as he thinks through and works through a question.
There is an abridged version of the book on shelves now - I'm not sure if
the original version is still out there, too. I'm not sure what he cut
out to abridge the book, but I'm sure either book would make good reading.



Chris Hill
Seattle, WA
cehill at u.washington.edu