Basin wiki · Animals
Corvus brachyrhynchos
The smaller town corvid. Most black birds on the basin dumps and poles are still ravens.
Crows do show up in towns. Ravens are much larger, with a heavier bill, a wedge tail, and a croak instead of a caw. If you are unsure, it is probably a raven — the raven page is written for that reason. Do not feed either. Wikipedia and the park’s bird notes have the field marks.
Corvus corax
bird · tortoise
The big black bird on the power pole. Intelligent, increasing around people, and a real predator of young tortoises.
Morongo Basin +3
Canis latrans
mammal · urban-wildlife
The animal this desk is named for. Common from town edges to open desert, and mostly a problem when people feed it.
Morongo Basin +4
Aphelocoma californica
bird · resident
The bright blue jay of oaks, yards, and the west side of the basin. Not the same bird as the grayer Woodhouse’s jay of pinyon flats.
Morongo Basin +3