Common Raven Disposing of Eggshells

 When this Common Raven landed on a large rock fairly close to me last week on Antelope Island I could see that it had something in its beak and assumed that it was some type of food.  It wasn’t until I got home and processed the images that I could tell what it was.

 

Canon 7D, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, 1/2500, f 6.3, ISO 500

It turns out that it was eggshell, presumably from its own nest.  In researching Common Raven eggs I found that they have this kind of marking and color (though there is some variability in both) and this shell remnant seemed to be about the right size for a raven so my assumption is that it’s a raven eggshell and not leftovers from a meal from raiding the nest of another bird.  There is a raven nest relatively close to this rock. 

 

Canon 7D, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, 1/2500, f 6.3, ISO 500

Here the raven is very carefully placing the shell in a crevice in the rocks.  At the time I took the photo I couldn’t figure out why the bird would simply abandon what I thought was food. 

 

 

Canon 7D, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, 1/3200, f 6.3, ISO 500

Here the raven has dropped the eggshell…

 

 

Canon 7D, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, 1/2000, f 7.1, ISO 500

and then it hopped to the peak of the rock to “crow” about its accomplishment.

Birds of North America Online says this about raven eggshell disposal – “No data on disposal of eggshells”.  I don’t know if that means that there have been no verified observations of the behavior or simply that it has never been studied with data collected.  Either way I was happy to see and photograph this raven disposing of the eggshells.

Ron