In various field guides the wing flick is given as an aid to identifying
the Little Raven. Earlier last month I noted what I took to be
repetitive wing flicks in a bird which, on all other features, I was
certain was an Australian Raven. It had the distended throat hackles,
horizontal stance when making what I took to be the the territorial
call, the bill was large, there was a slightly raised area to the rear
of the head, and the calls were just right. Observing other Australian
Ravens I noticed the same thing from time to time. It puzzled me. This
morning I was fortunate to have an Australian Raven only a couple of
metres away, making what I took to be the horizontal territory call. I
observed closely. There was movement with the call - but the wings were
actually held still. The tail was moving up and down in cadence with the
call. My mind, ready to check for wing flicks in corvids, had
interpreted the opening and closing of space between the tail and the
wings as 'wings flicking'. I should have been seeing tails moving up and
down.
My questions are:
(1) Has anyone else noticed this behaviour?
(2) Does anyone know whether raising and lowering of the tail is
diagnostic for Australian Ravens?
Con
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