DISPERSAL AND ASSOCIATION AMONG COMMON RAVENS

We examined the dispersal and gregariousness of 10 ravens from one feeding flock through daily and nocturnal monitoring for 70 days and nights over an area of approximately 5,000 km2. One of the birds took a mate and established residency within this area. Another passed through the area on infrequent intervals having an apparently much larger range. Two stayed only a day or less. All but one bird wandered widely, taking up residency lasting for one to several weeks in ranges from 190-3, 100 km2. The 10 birds from the feeding flock did not stay together, although up to two occasionally overlapped at nocturnal roosts. The birds roosted and dispersed independently of one another with no indication of any ''flock'' cohesiveness. There was a great variation of response from ''vagrants'' to ''residents'', with one grading into the other through temporary residences and periods of wandering.