Summary

  • Natural history: Common Ravens were once common across New England, but as farming and Vermont’s sheep-raising boom spread across the landscape, accusations of lamb-killing led to their being killed off entirely in Vermont by the mid-1800s, part of a broader regional collapse that left the species confined to a few corners of Maine and the Adirondacks. As farms reverted to forest and deer herds rebounded through the twentieth century, ravens recolonized Vermont beginning in the mid-1960s, and by the Second Atlas they had spread from remote mountain strongholds into lower-elevation valleys statewide, a comeback often credited to the species’ intelligence and adaptability.
  • Status in VT: Increased by 94% (85 to 165 blocks). Greatest increases in Vermont Valley, Southern Vermont Piedmont, and Champlain Valley.
  • Data from other research: No additional data for VT.
  • Conservation status: State rank S3
  • Other atlases: NY and ON: expanded distribution
  • VT’s role in North American range: VT is near the southeastern edge of the range.
  • Causes of change since first Atlas:Continuation of trend due to protection against persecution; forest re-growth; healthy deer population (food source).
  • Management/Monitoring recommendations: No specific recommendations.

Population Trends

Common Raven graph

First Vermont Breeding Bird Atlas (1976-1981)

Species Account

Second Vermont Breeding Bird Atlas (2003 – 2007)

Species Account

Common Raven Map 1 Common Raven Table 1 Common Raven Table 2

Change in Distribution

mapkey Common Raven Map 2 Common Raven Table 3

Links

Vermont eBird

Encyclopedia of Life

All About Birds