Hello birders of Virginia,
I will soon be beginning field work as part of my M.S. project through
the University of Kentucky investigating the detectability and
occupancy of Common Ravens in cliff habitat.
The Common Raven is of conservation interest in Kentucky and currently
listed as state threatened. There appears to be extensive suitable
breeding habitat in Kentucky but the status of this species in cliff
habitat is largely unkown. We plan to characterize the detectability
and autecology of the Common Raven in cliff habitat and to develop
protocols for monitoring the occupancy of key habitat in eastern
portions of Kentucky. My goal right now is to locate 20-30 known
raven nests in states bordering Kentucky (i.e. VA, TN, NC, WV). Then,
repeated visual/auditory surveys can be conducted this upcoming
breeding season in order to learn about factors that affect our
ability to detect ravens in cliff habitat and to determine how many
visits to a given site are required to detect a breeding pair with a
high degree of confidence.
My hope is to obtain any knowledge you all may have of areas where
ravens have nested in the past year or two. I am mostly interested in
cliff-nesting situations, however, I would welcome any knowledge of
nest sites where other structures are utilized (i.e. trees, bridges,
etc.). Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks and good birding to you all,
Josh Felch
