I knew birds put in a lot of effort to raise their young, but after having a front row seat to watch a pair of ravens take care of their brood, I was amazed at their tireless work.

These two ravens were a constant presence in the courtyard and entryway of the Audubon Center during the spring. I would hear them croak (unlike a crow that has more of a caw) and soar above, leaving a shadow of their wedge-shaped tail on the ground. This wedge-shaped tail is another way to differentiate a raven from a crow. Crows have a more rounded ended tail without a tip.

All day, the ravens would fly back and forth from the Center to their nest in a tall evergreen tree nearby. I could spot the nest with binoculars from our courtyard, and it was impressively huge! Great-horned owls are common thieves of raven’s nests, and this one would have been quite the pirate's booty. Luckily for this family of ravens, our resident owl had found a nicer nest close by where she was raising chicks of her own.

From then on, every day there was a new show! The ravens were first flying back and forth to their nest with sticks and other nesting material in their beaks. Once, they were perched atop a light pole ripping up what looked like leftover fried chicken. Another day, unrecognizable roadkill parts were carefully softened for their chicks as they dipped dried parts into pond water. Gross bits were often left behind for us to clean up. The ravens would often bathe in the ponds, which was always entertaining. One day, after a field trip had departed, I watched as a raven flew away with what looked like an entire turkey sandwich that was left behind by an inattentive fourth grader. Cleaning up the scat they left all over our gate every day felt like the price of admission to their show!

After a few weeks of this nature documentary unfolding before my eyes, the big day came. I stepped out into the courtyard for a stretch and noticed a raven watching me intently from the roof, fluffed up around the neck like a lion, and croaking. It hopped along the roof, following me down the walkway. I could hear another raven in the distance echoing the deep croaking sounds and that was when I saw the treasure they were guarding in our courtyard: a fluffy fledgling raven, sitting on a fence about 3 feet off the ground, furiously preening the “baby” feathers on its chest. The raven’s huge gape flanges made it appear like it was frowning and annoyed with all of this “feather work”. I managed to get a few pictures before the parents grunted again and the awkward juvenile bird took off in the slowest, most laborious, inefficient flying form ever.

I feel lucky to have seen this process and I wish this young bird the best of luck. Hopefully these two will have another brood next year, as ravens mate for life, and the show will come back to town!