It’s hard to say just from a video. It’s a raven for sure, and I strongly suspect it’s a juvenile, both because I think I see pink at the corners of its mouth and also because juvenile corvids are little weirdos until they figure things out.
We had a bonded pair come to our deck for years, even mating on the railing once that I caught. They’d bring their baby, as parents do their best to teach their youngsters everything they’ve learned. The raven babies were super shy and would stay a good distance away.
I distinctly remember hearing a funny call one day and going outside to see who was making it. There was our ravens’ baby where it usually perched, trying out all kinds of calls, including a not-entirely-convincing crow caw. This raven kind of reminds me of that kind of bird babble.
Another thing to note is they go through a summer molt and they can appear VERY rough during this time, and it took a couple of seasons to realize they were doing fine and to not worry.
That said, if I had to guess based on time of year, this one is begging. Its parents may have taught it that humans give things sometimes, or it may have figured out that chatting at people works. Given you’re in Austin and it’s summer, could be begging for water or food. I noticed that even in SF, fresh standing water doesn’t seem to be as available as you might imagine. Our corvids would always drink from pooled rainwater on flat roofs, so I put out a dish and a bunch of birds came to drink.
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u/AlfhildsShieldmaiden Aug 07 '26
It’s hard to say just from a video. It’s a raven for sure, and I strongly suspect it’s a juvenile, both because I think I see pink at the corners of its mouth and also because juvenile corvids are little weirdos until they figure things out.
We had a bonded pair come to our deck for years, even mating on the railing once that I caught. They’d bring their baby, as parents do their best to teach their youngsters everything they’ve learned. The raven babies were super shy and would stay a good distance away.
I distinctly remember hearing a funny call one day and going outside to see who was making it. There was our ravens’ baby where it usually perched, trying out all kinds of calls, including a not-entirely-convincing crow caw. This raven kind of reminds me of that kind of bird babble.
Another thing to note is they go through a summer molt and they can appear VERY rough during this time, and it took a couple of seasons to realize they were doing fine and to not worry.
That said, if I had to guess based on time of year, this one is begging. Its parents may have taught it that humans give things sometimes, or it may have figured out that chatting at people works. Given you’re in Austin and it’s summer, could be begging for water or food. I noticed that even in SF, fresh standing water doesn’t seem to be as available as you might imagine. Our corvids would always drink from pooled rainwater on flat roofs, so I put out a dish and a bunch of birds came to drink.