Two species of ravens breed in this area. This is the Chihuahuan Raven which in habits arid areas and grassland and is marginally smaller than Common Raven which occurs along water courses and in the mountains. Chihuahuan Raven has a slightly different bill shape and the nasal tufts are said to be longer, but the easier way to identify them is by their more rounded, crow-like tail in flight and lack of shaggy throat feathers. Vocalizations are said to differ, but both species make a variety of sounds.
A study (Omland, K. E., C. L. Tarr, W. I. Boarman, J. M. Marzluff, and R. C. Fleischer. 2000. Cryptic genetic variation and paraphyly in ravens. Proc. Royal Society of London 267:2475-2482) revealed that Chihuahuan Raven (Corvus cryptoleucus) is genetically closer to California populations of Common Raven (Corvus corax) than California populations of Common Raven are to other Common Ravens.
Digiscoped with Panasonic DMC-LZ5 | Nikon FieldScope III | 30XWA | hand-held (no adapter)