Life Sciences Commons^™

Estimating Trends Of Common Raven Populations In North America, 1966–2018, Seth M. Harju, Peter S. Coates, Seth J. Dettenmaier, Jonathan B. Dinkins, Pat J. Jackson, Michael P. Chenaille

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Over the last half century, common raven (Corvus corax; raven) populations have increased in abundance across much of North America. Ravens are generalist predators known to depredate the eggs and young of several sensitive species. Quantifying raven population increases at multiple spatial scales across North America will help wildlife resource managers identify areas where population increases present the greatest risk to species conservation. We used a hierarchical Bayesian modeling approach to analyze trends of standardized raven counts from 1966 to 2018 using Breeding Bird Survey data within each Level I and II ecoregion of the United States and Canada. …