Show your stuff!

Grog & El Moro

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I still have not seen a baby beak stretched to the sky but other indicators seem to verify that some have hatched. The parents are both out, searching for food and Sunshine revelling in her unconfinement ie. flying with apparent abandon and joy even in the same old territory. Besides the pleasure of flying together, being out and about again, there is the serious business of food.

I have noticed male macho displays between raven neighbors, each insisting on its bit of territory. I imagine this is to meet the greater demand on them for food. These male challenges consist of the fluffing of feathers to make them look larger, walking deliberately up to each other with head held high, beak up, and throat feathers poking out, exaggerated by deep swallowing. They puff their 'ears' by flattening their head feathers and so tufts go higher. This seems to precede puffing all their head feathers for greater effect.

Strutting around they makes what is called 'baggy pants', flaring their flank feathers. They also spread their tail feathers and do a bow and click as they try to raise themselves higher than the other. I have watched them hop together along the sand, one trying to seem bigger and more important than the other. Sometimes, one raven tries to 'be greater' by flying to the cliff above the other, only to be followed usually. Today, I saw two end up in an actual fight with feet and beaks at each other. But I haven't seen any real damage as they end up going back to their respective, established territories. Other times, they seem to just forget the competition and go for a fly together, as in the sequence of the photos* above [courtesy of the ravendiaries.com].

Ravens also have what is called a nictitating membrane ie. a third or inner eyelid to protect the eye from dust or keep it moist. They seem to use it to express submission as opposed to the commanding, direct stare. Females flirt with these eyes in courtship. They also pretend to be helpless, mimicking a young bird's begging by crouching and flapping their wings quickly and making higher, more infantile sounds. They do that with the guys, probably to check out how well they provide food, ie. sizing them up. But when with other females, they also have their feather displays and struts which are similar to the guys but the girls seem to make more knocking sounds--two females trying to outdo the other. All is vanity, pull down thy vanity, girls. Smooth those feathers.

*click to enlarge