On Sunday, February 3, 2019 at 6:45:50 PM UTC-7, Skot wrote:
We observed quite an impressive gathering of ravens in Dillon this weekend. 40 - 50 ravens had marked up an entire snowy hill near the north east arm of the lake . . . They were snow-bathing, jumping, rolling, sledding, and copulating. There are lots of cute videos of a couple ravens rolling down a snowy roof or car windshield, but nothing suggesting this level of gathering. We didn't have any optics, but there was a nice wide shoulder to pull off to watch briefly. I'd not heard of such gatherings at specific places in the state. Anyone know if this is a regular occurrence? Lots of links talk about names like 'unkindness', 'conspiracy' of ravens and whether those terms every really got used or are just antiquated trivia , but I didn't find anything on how such a gathering works, is it organized or is there a pattern birds follow? Is there a hierarchy? It seemed much more complex than a typical chicken lek. Quite interesting to watch. In the video, there are 5 - 6 birds center of the shot doing some tumbling, and about 18 - 20 far left of center just sitting in the deep snow as others flew in and out. Pretty clear though, that every mark on that hill was made by ravens! https://photos.app.goo.gl/Bd9xEHSV8AdRn9b66
Skot LatonaLittleton, CO
Skot, I have a view of this hill from my condo overlooking that inlet into the Snake River arm of Dillon Reservoir. This gathering is quite common when there is fresh snow on the hill. The birds seem to really enjoy the powder! I think they roost in the conifers up the hill.
Bea Weaver
Roxborough, CO
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