Crows, Magpies, and Ravens

A Black-billed Magpie, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; 7/8/2010.

On our trip out to southern California, we made a stop at Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction, CO. Three of the most commonly seen birds in Colorado and in most of the West, from the Rockies to the Pacific, are the Black-billed Magpie (Above), the American Crow (Below middle two pics), and the Common Raven (Bottom two pics).

A congress of crows sitting on a branch surveying their territory, Crystal Cove State Park, Newport Beach, CA;   

A collective group of crows are also called a "cauldron", a "congress", a "horde", a "murder", and a "muster". I personally love a "murder" of crows, but I have to admit a "congress" of crows is very fitting - a lot of noise and bluster.

American Crow, Silverthorne, CO; 7-6-10

A Common Raven, Petrified Wood National Park, AZ; 6/20/2011.

Two Common Ravens fighting over a pine cone, Newport Beach, CA; 6/13/2011.

A group of ravens has many collective nouns, including a "bazaar", "constable", "rant", "storytelling", and "unkindness" of ravens. I don't make these up. Check the website 

http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/104/_/Common_Raven.aspx .

Sunset of the Day

"The Three Gossips" rock formation in Arches National Park, Utah; July, 2005