Birds In Alaska Songbirds: Common Raven Corvus corax The Common Raven is a scavenging omnivore and found in nearly every habitat throughout Alaska. They are large, intelligent birds usually found together with others of their kind. Raven's Surprise I was hiking back to a small pond, picking my way carefully through dense brush and rose thorns when my attention was drawn to some VERY noisy ravens. Paying attention to noisy ravens has brought me close to large predatory birds before, so I changed directions to discover what had earned their raucous attention. A short distance into the brush I spotted two ravens circling just above some nearby trees. Below them, to my delight, high in a Cottonwood tree was a large nest of sticks! I was excited and wondered if there was a hawk, or large owl, nearby tending the nest. I waited in the dense, mosquito and thorn-infested underbrush, hopeful for a chance to photograph a great predator. After 15 minutes of waiting, my technique for silently killing mosquitos had improved but, all I saw and heard was the upset ravens. As quietly as one can be when walking on dead leaves and sticks, I began to move closer. With the nest so high in the tree I wasn't concerned that my approach would disturb the babies, but I did not want bother the parents and give them reason to demonstrate how their sharp talons were effective at chasing off nosy humans. Surprise At The Nest Tree!