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Albino Raven spotted over the downtown eastside

by Barry Artiste | June 19, 2008 at 05:14 am

1411 views | 20 Recommendations | 9 comments

Opinion
Barry Artiste, Now Public Contributor

A pair of Albino Ravens , though this looks more like an Albino Crow were spotted 100 kilometers away on Vancouver island, now a albino raven was spotted in DTES of the city of Vancouver. It is not known if this is one of the pair or a new phenomena.

Judging by this photo and last weeks photos it certainly does not seem to be of the same pair. Besides this young raven looks as if it can barely fly much less take a 100 kilometer journey to the city over the Strait of Georgia, I will update on this story as more news comes in.

Let's hope we do not see enterprising Junkies in this area, scour backyards, parks and streets looking to make a few bucks capturing this phenomena.

I have posted photos of the two Albina Ravens taken last week for Now Public Readers comparison, you be the judge. This recent Raven looks much too young to one of the pair discovered last week in Victoria. The Vancouver Island Ravens have been said to have distinct Blue Eyes, not Pink, where this new Albino Raven has distinct Pink eyes, indicative of a true albino.

http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/rare-white-ravens-make-home-vancouver-island

Albino crows spotted over the downtown eastsideNicole Tomlinson, Vancouver SunPublished: Thursday, June 19, 2008
Pat Brand's wife first thought the white bird outside their east Vancouver home was a pigeon.

However, when he took a closer look, glowing pink eyes gave away its true identity.

"It looked like a crow; it had fledgling feathers, you could tell that it was still young," Brand said. As crows overhead "squawked and dive bombed" Brand, he became concerned for the albino creature and called the SPCA.

He was told the animal probably ended up on the ground after being pushed out of a nest - apparently standard parenting practice for the birds - and to leave it alone for a few hours.

When Brand spotted the young bird in the garden later on the same day, he captured on camera the odd sight of its white feathers against a lush green background.

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recommend This comment thread is now closed

Rhonda J Mangus

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 05:29 on June 19th, 2008

Barry Artiste, thanks for the continuing coverage! Amazing!

Barbara McPherson

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 11:26 on June 19th, 2008

Barry Artiste, I like this story. It's good stuff. Uh oh! Is there a toxic waste dump nearby?

Amy Judd

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 11:28 on June 19th, 2008

Barry Artiste, I like this story.

Wow, I hope this means more white ravens!

mikullashbee

at 16:00 on June 19th, 2008

we had just moved to Qualicum Beach, B.C. While out doing some birdwatching in the townsite, we came across TWO white Common Ravens. They were from a brood of five, three of which were black, and appeared to have just fledged from the nest.
If anyone would like to see more photos of the ravens, please visit our website: www.redtailsphotography.ca
Cat and Mike Ashbee

mikullashbee has contributed a photo to this story.

Barry Artiste

at 23:51 on June 19th, 2008

Thanks everyone for your comments, certainly I will be looking at updating any future stories on this.

And as Barbara says, Gee I hope it is not because of toxic waste

reachrkata

at 09:50 on June 22nd, 2008

I was visiting the Walsrode Bird park and found this in one of the cages.

reachrkata has contributed a photo to this story.

Barry Artiste

at 13:06 on June 22nd, 2008

Thanks for visiting and your photo.

michaelsqueen

at 11:04 on June 25th, 2008

This raven was photographed in Southeast Alaska. I am sorry I cannot locate more specifically the area, but it was taken near one of the cities or towns that are one of the stops on the Alaska Marine Highway System, the state's ferry system.

michaelsqueen has contributed a photo to this story.