Synchronized swimmers of the air

It's hard to get away from the beauty and dexterity of raven flight. Their timing seems based on an acute awareness of their partner. Their sense of fun in flying is impossible to miss. Most days if I look, I will see a group of ravens soaring, diving, rolling, tucking their wings to fly upside down and then rising again together. Windy days seem to soar their spirits. I have watched them for hours racing with the wind, dipping and diving and then making their way back to start all over again. They also quork with seeming delight or perhaps in accolade of each other's maneuvers.

In the sky, ravens and crows can at first be difficult to distinguish even though the raven weighs about four times as much as the crow according to Bernd Heinrich. Generally, ravens have wedge-shaped tails while crows have squarer tails. The raven's wingspan is up to four feet wide while the crow's is about two and a half. Also, individual ravens are hard to tell apart unless they have some missing tail or wing feather or an unusually-shaped beak. I have found the surest way to identify a pair is by its territory or how they identify me ie. what sounds they make if they see me.

Even though ravens congregate for group flying, at other times a pair fiercely keeps everyone out of their territory. They seem to have definite lines drawn in the air. The beach where I run appears to have been divided by four, possibly five raven pairs. Excepting this time of year with the raven's narrow focus on the nest, they patrol their territory diligently. Yet, they don't hesitate to call for help from their fellow ravens and cousin crows when there is a red-tail or other hawk to chase away.

A pair of Cooper's hawks is nesting in a tree near the Grog's nest. The Grogs and the Coopers are contesting the territory. I saw Sunshine quickly leave the nest only to be attacked by the Cooper's hawk. Although the Cooper's hawk is smaller than the raven, more similar in size to the crow, the Cooper's hawk's claws are deathly. It captures its prey with its feet and squeezes it to death. Will the hawk and raven young become food for each other?