Behaviour of the Little Raven Corvus Mellori on Phillip Island, Victoria
137 AUSTRALIAN FIELD ORNITHOLOGY 2005, 22, 137-145 Behaviour of the Little Raven Corvus mellori on Phillip Island, Victoria NORA SWINBURNE1 and ROSALIND JESSOP2 1Wesleyan University, Wesleyan Station, Middletown, Connecticut 06459, USA 2Phillip Island Nature Park, P.O. Box 97, Cowes, Victoria 3922 Summary Time-budgets of Little Ravens Corvus mellori were studied on Phillip Island, Victoria, in mid autumn (April) 2002, by scoring behaviour during observations on focal individuals (n = 199), instantaneous scans of Raven groups (n = 189), and average counts of birds at each of three sites. Ravens occurred mostly in groups; peak numbers occurred in the early mornings and evenings, with midday lows. Communal roosting occurred in early morning, midday and evening, and foraging in mid morning and mid afternoon. Much of their time was spent roosting. Focal birds also spent much time foraging, whereas birds in groups divided most of their remaining time between foraging and flying. Ravens spent most of their foraging time feeding on insects (72% ), followed by berries (17% ), seabird carrion (16%) and human food scraps (bread, 3% ). Some intra- and interspecific aggressive interactions are described. Introduction The Little Raven Corvus mellori (Corvidae) is classified as a common resident on Phillip Island (Wheeler 1981 ). In south-eastern Australia there are three species of raven: the Australian Raven C. coronoides, Forest Raven C. tasmanicus and Little Raven (Rowley 1970). The Little Raven ranges from the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales to the western coast of South Australia, and inhabits a variety of areas from alpine woodlands to coastlines and cities. The Little Raven was first described in 1967 (Rowley 1967) and only one major study has been conducted on this species, on sheep properties in inland New South Wales.
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