COBirders—Yesterday while doing the annual Westcliffe CBC in the Wet Mountain Valley (between the Sangre de Cristo and Wet Mountain ranges at a little above 8000 ft.), , I photographed a pair of ravens perched just out of the circle. One was displaying white plumage near its wing wrist. At first sight I thought Chihuahuan Raven even though I knew that would be extremely unlikely. There was almost no wind, but while watching, I saw the second raven grooming the first, exposing apparently white plumage.
I vaguely remember reading somewhere that Common Ravens will rarely have some white throat feathers. I would welcome your comments as to what species of raven might be shown in the photo below. Note the raven on the right (groomer) shows no white, only iridescence. The white on the other bird (“groomee”) seems to show white plumage but not on the throat. Also notice the culmen is not as robust as that of Common Ravens.
Leon Bright, Pueblo and Custer County
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