Photodocumentation of Chihuahuan Raven in Larimer County CO, 23 November 2009
See other better quality images of this individual at https://pbase.com/birdingwild1/image/119694349 and https://pbase.com/birdingwild1/image/119694353. The rounded tail and the rictal bristles extending more than half way over the base of the bill indicate an identity of Chihuahuan Raven, a species not yet on the CFO's official bird species checklist for Larimer County. In recent years, there have been a handful of undocumented reports. In the week of this sighting, several groups of raven had been seen moving around the town of Fort Collins, which is uncharacteristic of the foothills-dwelling Common Ravens. Some of these groups were moving northward, including this photographed individual, which we tracked for over a mile flying north over the plains west of Wellington, about 30 miles from the Wyoming border. For comparison with bills of other ravens, check out http://schmoker.org:80/BirdPics/2007/Corvids/Raven_Bill_Comp1.jpg.