Ravens in Toronto?

[neichenlaub]

Hello,

I have recently moved to Toronto from the west coast where ravens are a common sight. I am surprised not to see any in the city, and am wondering if someone knows the reason why. From the little bit of research I have done on the web, it sounds like they are a rare sighting in the city and even as far away as Northumberland County. Is this due to disease, culling, or ? My husband grew up here in the 70s and remembers seeing ravens regularly.

The Toronto Bird Checklist does list the Common Raven, but the our Birds of Ontario field guide indicates that Corvus Corax is not found in the St. Lawrence / Great Lakes lowlands due to: "poisoning, trapping, and shooting campaigns".

Just wondering if anyone has any more information or sources regarding the ravens in the city of Toronto and where might be a good place to see ravens?

Thanks very much,

Naomi

[BIGFRANK]

In Toronto,there are very few Ravens sighted year to year,possibly a few around Hawk migration time in the Sept/Oct time frame. I only started to bird in 2001/02 and have seen just 2 in that time.   Crows we had a huge die off from West Nile Disease several years ago. Some estimates Ive heard was that we lost 90% of the Crows in the city at that time. The only place I know of to see Ravens consistantly would be up around Algonquin Park,though Im sure others will know of other spots.

[Tyler]

Common Ravens breed in several location across the Oak Ridge Moraine and the Niagara Escarpment. In the GTA area they can readily be found  with some effort in the Ganaraska forest, hwy 115/35 intersection north of Orono, Tyrone area(north of Bowmanville), Durham and York forests in the stoufville and Uxbridge area. Palgrave, orangeville-shelburne areas.
 Any highway leading into the the southern canadian shield regions of Ontario have Ravens patrolling the highway looking for roadkill. We saw several today along hwy 28 between peterborough and Eels lake.

[Axeman]

We didn't lose too many crows or jays in Grey County...last summer and fall, I"m certain that we had a raven around -- sound and size in flight...but I haven't seen it lately...to me they're a real symbol of the wilderness.