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Post by gamewraith on Apr 19, 2011 7:03:48 GMT -8
Had the opportunity to see an albino crow flying past my truck as I was driving on 56 th ave between 240 and 248th st. I would assume the locals in that area are aware of it. I saw it lazily flying by going in a northerly direction, and as I viewed it I thought, "flies like a crow, size of a crow, looks like a crow, wonder if it gets made fun of by the other crows." It probably hangs out with sea gulls to avoid the ridicule.
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Post by murraybrown on Apr 19, 2011 14:25:24 GMT -8
Hi gamewraith, your absolutely right. It is a Northwestern Crow and has lived in that area for many years.
It is very well known by the residents of north Otter and apparently has a very conventional, black mate.
It is surprisingly cagey and has eluded my camera lens on many an occasion. I finally got a shot of it through the windshield but it's poor at best. My hard drive crashed and the only remaining image is on the efauna website under my name.
There was a local newspaper article about the bird several years ago and it was considered old at that time.
In fact it sounds crazy, but one person says it's over 20 years old!
Glad to hear that it's still going strong!
Murray Brown,
Agassiz
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Post by davidandkaren on Apr 19, 2011 14:47:09 GMT -8
And so it is...  |
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Post by murraybrown on Apr 19, 2011 15:50:11 GMT -8
Thank you davidand karen. I have no idea how you achieved that but I'm grateful that you did!
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Post by gamewraith on Apr 19, 2011 21:48:10 GMT -8
Thank you for the verification and background info on this crow. I had to show my family this post with the picture to keep them from looking at me sideways.
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Post by Gord on Apr 20, 2011 8:11:11 GMT -8
Gamewraith, welcome and thanks also for the great topic. I never knew about this bird and enjoyed reading about it and seeing the picture David got.
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Post by davidandkaren on Apr 20, 2011 9:45:29 GMT -8
Just to be perfectly clear - that's Murray Brown's photo of the albino crow from the eFauna website - I just embedded the link.
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Post by murraybrown on Apr 20, 2011 13:14:14 GMT -8
Thanks for clarifying that David. And Gord, if you would like to read the newspaper article I referred to, I still have that clipping.
Incidentally gamewraith, the bird is technically not an albino. It has dark eyes and mouth parts and would therefore qualify as leucistic.
When I first saw it in 2006 or 2007 I thought it must be a Rock Pigeon hanging out with a flock of crows, which didn't seem at all logical.
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Post by gamewraith on Apr 21, 2011 20:14:50 GMT -8
From the 5 to 10 seconds of view I got of the bird a couple of days ago I did key in on looking at the bill. I was looking at it to confirm for myself that it was a crow, and the bill appeared to be a tawny brown/ pale yellow. When you say it has dark mouth parts would that be a typical black? If so would what I saw still qualify as leucistic? Can either ailment transfer to offspring?
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Post by murraybrown on Apr 22, 2011 19:18:49 GMT -8
It's been a few years since I have seen this guy, but it seemed to me to have a black bill and legs and had dark eyes. A true albino would have a complete absence of pigmentation in the bare parts and have pink eyes.
It isn't accurate to refer to this condition as an ailment so much as an anomaly, and from what I've read I think it can be inherited. Although I'm not absolutely sure of that.
Because this bird has been known for so long it has been suggested that it might be a trait that has been passed on for more than one generation. In other words you might have seen a grandchild or even a great grandchild of the original.
I guess without a series of photos over the years, we will never know.
One woman that I know that lived near there said that one year there were two piebald crows hanging around. Black and white that is.
So that might suggest that it is an inherited trait after all.
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Post by ed on Apr 22, 2011 21:00:08 GMT -8
Interesting topic. I saw a white crow about 2 miles from the area it seems to be inhabiting now...this was about 22-23 years ago. Same one, who knows? A friend says it basically lives in her back yard, meaning she sees it frequently. She also mentioned it seems to disappear for about 3 weeks every summer. Could it be a female?
Ed
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