Common Ravens are amazing (and actually not very common in the city). Even when simply standing in the grass, a Raven looks thoughtful and intelligent. Click Here to read an interesting post about Ravens and their intelligence, which includes their ability to talk. Locally, our Arboretum Ravens have nested in Rhododendron Glen for the last four years. Usually, they start working on their nest in February. However, since they typically hide their nests in the upper branches of a Douglas Fir tree, we often only get to watch the stick delivery process. We can know precisely where the nest is, without being able to see it.
Last year was an exception. We were able to see the nest and even the young birds being fed. Although later in the Spring, it seemed like the Ravens added sticks to the east side of the nest that helped to hide their young. This year, the nest is a lot less obvious. However, the Raven activity seems more obvious and more confusing. The first challenge for me was simply trying to find their nest. I saw plenty of Ravens in Rhododendron Glen, coming and going from multiple trees, but they can be deceptive about where they are going.
Ravens will often land in one tree, or at one height, before stealthily moving about among the branches and ending up somewhere totally different. It was not obvious to me where they were nesting. Luckily, my friend Harriet, spotted their new nest. (Thank you! Harriet.)
This brief video shows three Douglas Fir trees in Rhododendron Glen in the Washington Park Arboretum. The tree on the left held their 2024 nest, the tree in the middle held their 2025 nest, and the tree on the right holds their current nest.
If you would like to visit Rhododendron Glen, it is about a half mile south of the Graham Visitors Center in the Washington Park Arboretum. To get there, walk (or bike) south on Arboretum Drive until you see the Rhododendron Glen sign. Immediately beyond the sign on your left is a bench, and on your right is the path in the video. If you go about halfway down the visible portion of the path and look up, you will see the three trees as shown in the video.
You will probably need binoculars to see even this small portion of the nest in the tree on the right. It is ~12 feet below the top of the tree. However, if you take a few minutes, in the early morning, during the first half of May, you should have a good chance of seeing Raven activity in the Glen.
In early April, my greatest confusion was related to this Raven bringing stick after stick to the 2024 nest tree, which is the tree on the left. In my experience, our local Ravens nest-build in February, lay eggs in March, and have young in the nest in April.
Its method of delivery was very common for Ravens. It would land in the middle portion of the tree and then hop, skip and walk its way up through the branches to the virtually hidden nest, before flying away without any stick.
But why was it taking sticks to the wrong tree? Over and over, it kept delivering sticks to the old nest. This was happening while other Ravens were bringing food to the new nest in the tree on the right. Why was it nest building in April? Why was it ignoring the active nest?
A few days later, some friends and I were sadly surprised while walking up the trail next to the seasonal stream in Rhododendron Glen. On the ground was the body of a young Raven. It was approximately 75 feet downstream from the active nest. I am guessing that this young Raven was only two to three weeks old when it fell in mid-April. Its flight feathers were only one-half inch long, and they were clearly not functional when it needed them. I wondered if there were other young left in the nest?
During the next week, I saw adult Raven activity around the nest, which implied there must be at least one surviving nestling. Ravens are said to be capable of having as many as seven young in one brood. The most I have seen fledge in the Arboretum in one year is
five in 2021.
So there could still be multiple young in the nest.
On April 20th, I got a clear view of one good-sized young Raven standing in the nest. When I zoom in on this photo, I can see its pink gape, the corner of its mouth, which is a clear indication that it is a first-year bird.
At the same time, the nest-building Raven was still taking sticks up to the 2024 nest. It took a while before I finally realized that the nest-builder was making a begging call. Usually, for a few weeks after the young leave the nest, and before they become self-sufficient, they call very loudly. This particular begging call sounds very similar to a human in pain. It is quite loud. I am sure it helps the parents locate them and keep them fed. In my experience, this is not one of the common sounds made by mature Ravens.
My best guess is that this mature-looking, nest-building Raven is just entering maturity, but still somewhat youthful since it continues to make this begging call. It is as big as an adult and with none of the obvious signs of a nestling or current-year fledgling. (I have not seen it being fed by the adults.) I suspect this is the first time it is feeling the urge to nest, and it is responding to its raging hormones by refurbishing the 2024 nest.
All About Birds says, "
Ravens begin breeding at ages 2 to 4." So the stick-collecting Raven could have potentially hatched out in the 2024 nest that it is now remodeling.
I found two somewhat relevant comments in Birds of the World.
1) "Observations of trios through out the year, including breeding season, are not uncommon...."
2) "Generally young become independent of parents by July or August..."
However, I could not find any mention of this specific situation occurring in the past. I have no idea how long the apparently newly maturing Raven will be bringing sticks to the 2024 nest. This behavior is totally new to me so every observation is a brand new learning experience.
Plus, as of last weekend, there was at least one current-year nestling in the 2026 nest. Sometime, in the next few weeks, I expect it to learn to fly and leave the tree. In the meantime, if you visit Rhododendron Glen, you may get to see it flapping its wings and building strength for its first flight. Also, there could be more than one young bird left in the nest.
The good news is, there is a lot of entertaining and amazing Raven activity happening in Rhododendron Glen.
Have a great day on Union Bay...where nature lives in the city!
Larry
Going Native:
Each of us who breathes the air, drinks water, and eats food should be helping to protect our environment. Local efforts are most effective and sustainable. Native plants and trees encourage the largest diversity of lifeforms because of their long intertwined history with our local environment and the local native creatures. Even the microbes in the soil are native to each local landscape.
I hope we can inspire ourselves, our neighbors, and local businesses to respect native flora and support native wildlife at every opportunity. I have learned that our most logical approach to native trees and plants (in order of priority) should be to:
1) Learn and leave established native flora undisturbed.
2) Remove invasive species and then wait to see if native plants begin to grow without assistance. (When native plants start on their own, then these plants or trees are likely the most appropriate flora for the habitat.)
3) Scatter seeds from nearby native plants in a similar habitat.
4) If you feel you must add a new plant, then select a native plant while considering how the plant fits with the specific habitat and understanding the plant's logical place in the normal succession of native plants.
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Keystone native plants are an important new idea. Douglas Tallamy, in the book "Nature's Best Hope, " explains that caterpillars supply more energy to birds, particularly young birds in their nests, than any other plant eater. He also mentions that 14% of our native plants, ie Keystone Plants, provide food for 90% of our caterpillars. This unique subset of native plants and trees enables critical moths, butterflies, and caterpillars that provide food for the great majority of birds, especially when feeding their young.
Note: Flowering plants and trees, i.e. those pollinated by bees, are also included as Keystone Plants.
This video explains the native keystone plant concept in more detail:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5cXccWx030
The Top Keystone Genera in our ecoregion i.e. Plants and trees you might want in your yard:
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In this area, I typically display at least one photo with each post to challenge us to know our native lifeforms.
What are the native trees that these cones belong to?
Four of the following six choices are correct:
- Western Red Cedar
- Pacific Yew
- Douglas Fir
- Grand Fir
- Western Hemlock
- Sitka Spruce
Scroll down for the answers.
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The Answers:
In the same order as the photos, the answers are:
- Sitka Spruce
- Western Red Cedar
- Western Hemlock
- Douglas Fir
The Email Challenge:
Over the years, I have had many readers tell me that Google is no longer sending them email announcements. As of 2021, Google has discontinued the service.
In response, I have set up my own email list. With each post, I will manually send out an announcement. If you would like to be added to my personal email list please send me an email requesting to be added. Something like:
Larry, Please add me to your personal email list.
My email address is:
LDHubbell@comcast.net
Thank you!
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The Comment Challenge:
Another common issue is losing your input while attempting to leave a comment on this blog. Often everything functions fine, however, sometimes people are unable to make it past the robot-detection challenge or maybe it is the lack of a Google account. I am uncertain about the precise issue. Sadly, a person can lose their comment with no recovery recourse.
Bottom Line:
If you write a long comment, please, copy it before hitting enter. Then, if the comment function fails to record your information, you can send the comment directly to me using email.
My email address is:
LDHubbell@comcast.net
Sincerely,
Larry
Postscript:
The last common ancestor of Ravens and humans lived over 300 million years ago. As the authors of "A Bird's-Eye View of Human Language and Evolution" point out, this means we are separated by more than 600 million years of evolutionary variation.
Curiously, Homo sapiens, have only existed for 300,000 years. This means that over 99.9 percent of the evolutionary changes that separate us from Ravens happened before our species even existed. How is it that after more than one-half of a billion years of total evolutionary variation, we still have so much in common? For example, brains, hearts, eyes, two legs, vocalization, mating, reproduction, parenting, etc. Do our similarities reveal optimal characteristics required for survival or simply a shared genetic code that strongly limits variation?
