Friday, June 25, 2010

Crow with White Feather


Once I started watching birds, I look at all birds. About one month ago I was driving down Elizabeth Avenue when I spotted a crow with some white on it. I wanted to stop but traffic was backed up on both sides of the road. By the time I found a place to turn around and return the different crow was gone.

Having forgotten about it, I was driving down Elizabeth Ave. on Wednesday when I spotted a crow with a white feather picking at garbage. This time there was no one behind me and I pulled into a driveway and grabbed my camera.

I got a couple of shots but this unusual specimen did not want to pose. I think he was more interested in the trash. I got two shots on the ground and then it flew up on a house where I was able to get a couple of shots of the different markings.

I ran a Google search and came up a discussion on similar birds found in the U.S. http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=65078

If you have any insight on this aberration, please leave a comment.

29 comments:

  1. I saw a bird like this in my yard in Arkansas

    ReplyDelete
  2. i saw one today, so searching online i found your blog.. vancouver island btw and there have been albino crows found only about 30 miles from here... was a blessing to see this fellow today :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. I also recently saw one in my backyard in East Tennessee

    ReplyDelete
  4. I saw two on Mew's Place Saturday morning. First I have seen in NL.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I saw one in Central Scotland today but it was about a third white feathers. It was hanging out with the regular black crows. I will see if I can get a pic tomorrow or monday

    ReplyDelete
  6. I saw one at Crescent Beach near Vancouver, BC which had one white feather.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have a young crow with white feathers living in our garden never seen this before I live in Jimboomba QLD Australia

    ReplyDelete
  8. We have 2 here, everyday. I live in Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada

    ReplyDelete
  9. Tigard Oregon...at first I thought
    It had landed on a white painted fence...but when it flew off I saw alot of white under it's wings.
    .hangs out with all my crow buddies...we do lunch !@@@
    WHAT IS THAT BIRD ???

    ReplyDelete
  10. I spotted one in Seaside, Oregon yesterday

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The staff and I at my church’s summer care program found a baby one on the playground. “Rocky” (kids named him) is alive and working on flying. So cute!

      Delete
  11. When I first saw one, I thought it was very unusual. Since then, I have seen numerous. According to all of the post here, this is a common occurrence Thanks for sharing.
    .

    ReplyDelete
  12. Spotted one today Mascoma NH. First ever.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I have a crow with a white stripe on each side, see it quite often

    ReplyDelete
  14. We have one with a white spot on top of his head that visits daily to the seed and the bath for about 2 weeks now. Beautiful shiny black all over except that one spot. He is loner. Not with the other crows who usually are in large flocks. He is also a bit smaller. Not much tho. Maybe adolescent.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i have a similar crow, a bit of white on both sides, just the wings. It is smaller and comes for my peanuts. opens the squirrel feeder. This crow ..talked... a sweet kind of rolling around of sound in its mouth. Quite remarkable.

      Delete
  15. I have a pair of crows visit my garden and bird bath regularly and just this week, another arrived. I'm sure it's a male, same size as one of the other male. He has 2 white spots on his wings right where they attach to his back. He's pretty shy and I have yet to get a pic of him!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry, forgot to say I'm In Indian Head, Saskatchewan

      Delete
  16. Look up Leucistic crows.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. not a loss of pigment, just a couple of feathers, on both sides... wings only there are a few photographs of such birds.

      Delete
  17. My name is Heidi. Saw 7 of them eating at a dead raccoon in Mobile,Alabama. They were very large birds. So, I thought them to be Ravens.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Is it possible the birds you saw were Vultures?

    ReplyDelete
  19. We saw 3 in Ephrata PA USA

    ReplyDelete
  20. I saw one March 2023 between Houlton and Somerset Wisconsin. He was a big crow. An elder, with white feather mirrored on each lower flank.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I’ve just seen one in Northern Ireland,goggled and came across this just some white feathers on the wings

    ReplyDelete
  22. Just spotted one with a white circle on its head in Indiana

    ReplyDelete
  23. I just heard a huge amount of birds squawking, and looked out front to see about 25 of these crows with white markings fighting over a dead female cardinal that had struck my front window, and I put it into the forest next to us. I'm in NW Arkansas, this is the first time I've seen these birds. I have a bigger family of crows that visit every day into our pastures. This group of crows really surprised me!

    ReplyDelete