ML628451604

Observation details

Two birds present when I arrived and for about an hour afterward, from about 2:30-3:30. Remarkably small and gracile corvids with short, slender bills and bluish gloss on body feathers (purple in some lights). Much more like nearby Great-tailed Grackles in size and general impression than the much larger Chihuahuan Ravens and Laughing Gulls. One bird was feeding the other, and a couple of times, it appeared that copulation was at least attempted. They were perching on fencing and periodically flying down to scavenge garbage. Flight feathers were heavily worn on both birds, and one bird was missing several primary and secondary feathers from its left wing. Remarkably dry, deep croaking calls (lower pitched than Chihuahuan Ravens also calling). White-based nape feathers. As noted by others, the birds are being seen after you sign in at the scales and bear right at the first fork in the road. Going uphill, there's an area with patches of fencing on both sides of the road and a flat, garbage-covered area on the left where the birds scavenge.

Additional species

• Laughing Gull Leucophaeus atricilla