Desert Brown-headed Raven

The size is smaller than that of an ordinary raven : body length 52-56 cm, wing length of males on average 411, females 310 mm. Average weight 580 g. Young birds are brownish-black in color without a brown tint. Adult birds are black with a steel tint and differ sharply from an ordinary raven with a chocolate-brown shade of the head, neck, back and goiter ^[2] . Beak and legs are black.

In a typical desert, the raven is essentially the only black bird, since the black crow and the rook (outside settlements) are practically absent here. Even in the deepest places of the desert, the raven is distinguished by its caution in behavior, does not allow it to be close to itself, it “recognizes” the gun well. In nesting time, it is little noticeable and relatively rarely catches the eye. The voice, like that of an ordinary raven, is "crook, crook, crook ...", in addition, a croaking scream, similar to the croaking of a black and gray crow , issued by him during the attack. The raven does not run, only walks, shifting from one side to the other, walks slowly and quite hard. Rarely makes small jumps. During normal movements, the flight of the raven is smooth and smooth; during air games, he works with his wings a little more frequently, a beautiful sight is well known - the raven’s rapid fall with a spiral from a great height. On the hunt, the flight is very sluggish.

Cape Verde Islands , in the Sahara, west to Rio de Oro, Asbena and Socotra, east to Sinai, the Dead Sea, in Sudan , on the eastern and southern coast of Arabia, in eastern Iran , Balochistan , Afghanistan and in the deserts of Central Asia. In Turkmenistan it goes from the Caspian deserts through all Karakum to the north to the Sarykamysh depression and southern Ustyurt , to the south to the deserted foothills of Kopetdag , Badhyz and Karabil. Further to the east it inhabits the Kyzylkum , the Syr Darya and Prisuisk deserts in the north to the Aral Karakum, the north-eastern part of Balkhash and the Bektau-Ata mountains. Perhaps nests in southwestern Tajikistan . In Russia, a registered flight to the Orenburg region .

An ordinary bird, but not numerous. In Karakum, the number of ravens, in general, increases from west to east, which can be explained by the features of the landscape and, in particular, the relatively large development of saxaul forests in eastern Karakum. The desert crow does not form large clusters in Turkmenistan even in the cold season. These are not the huge hundreds of flocks that are mentioned by researchers of North Africa.

Apparently, in Kyzylkum a migratory bird migrating south in autumn. It is definitely found in the Karakum all year round. In the cold season, however, most ravens from the northern parts of this desert move to its more southern areas.

Nests on saxaul, Kandyme, sand acacia, tamarisk, on cliffs of outliers and on the ledges of xerophilous mountains, on the ruins of human structures, on the tops of dunes and on telegraph poles.

In order to feed, crows most often visit caravan routes (wells, shepherds' parking lots, etc.), where they pick up the garbage left by the caravan and feed on the corpses of fallen camels and other domestic animals. They also feed outside caravan trails, where the hunting area of ​​each pair is more or less constant and covers an area of ​​about several square kilometers. Large beetles (for example, black beetles) serve as food for the crow, which he feeds at the beginning of chicks, lizards, rodents to the size of a hare. In the piedmont strip, fields with crops are visited; grains of wheat and barley, as well as chitinous insect residues, were found in the ravens found in the stomachs in stomachs. If possible, willingly drinks.

In the desert, the raven prefers to use woody (primarily black saxaul) or large shrub vegetation for nests. So, in the Syr Darya deserts, out of 68 raven's nests, 47 were placed on black saxaul, 3 on sand acacia, 2 on tamarisk, 1 on jeda and 5 on turanga; 10 nests - in clay structures of man. On a tree, the nest is placed at the top and is supported by thick, dry branches. On trees that have completely dried out and retained only the trunk, or on telegraph poles, a raven’s nest is placed at the very top, being very skillfully attached to the trunk. The nest, which looks like a rough basket, depending on where it is located, can be at different heights, but more often from 1.5 to 4-5 m.

Both sexes take part in the construction of a new nest and in the repair of last year. Material for the base and side walls of the nest (branches and bark of saxaul, fresh and burnt ephemera, etc.) is brought by both the male and the female, in the future the obligation to find the wool of various animals, feathers of birds, rags, scraps of a nightmare, etc. lays only on the male, and the female remains in the nest and is engaged in trampling, crushing of this material and lining it on the nest.

Unlike an ordinary raven, a desert raven has a late reproductive cycle and begins no earlier than the average of March - early April. In Turkmenistan, in particular, the difference in the breeding calendar of common and desert ravens is quite significant - about a month. In deserts along the lower reaches of the Syr Darya, the beginning of the breeding period takes place in late March (in the southern parts) and in early April (in more northern places). The cycle is not only late, but at the same time extended. In Turkmenistan, its total duration is approximately three months — it begins in mid-March and ends in June. Masonry takes place in various dates in April; also in the first half of May (in young individuals). In clutch usually 5, often 4 and 6, sometimes 7 eggs. Dimensions: 38.5 - 49.2 x 28.5 - 32.0 mm, that is, smaller than the eggs of an ordinary raven.

In incubation, which lasts a little over 20 days, the main role is played by the female, whom the male helps, apparently, only occasionally. The number of chicks is 4-5. There is evidence that the first stages of postembryonic development of chicks proceed sluggishly; in Kyzyl-Kumah, chicks weighing about 200 g, blind and naked, were found. When broods are found, both parents are strongly attached to the chicks; the latter are very gluttonous. In the beginning, one of the parents remains near the chicks, and the second (most often the male) looks for food for them; later both birds are involved in this work. Parents' care for the young does not end even when the latter fall on their wings, and they roam for a long time along with the young within the breeding area.

• Feldman, Chris R .; Omland, Kevin E. Phylogenetics of the common raven complex (Corvus: Corvidae) and the utility of ND4, COI and intron 7 of the β-fibrinogen gene in avian molecular systematics // Aoologica Scripta. - 2005. - Vol. 34. - S. 145-156. - DOI : 10.1111 / j.1463-6409.2005.00182.x .
• Birds of the Soviet Union / Ed. G.P. Dementieva and N.A. Gladkov. Volume 5. - M .: Soviet science, 1954.