I have seen at least one similar bird off-and-on
here in Oakton (Fairfax Co). I wonder how common
they are.
FDA
--- "David S. Jackson" <djackson@xxxxxxx> wrote:
My wife and I had good looks yesterday at a
bird we didn't previously
know even existed. Out of the corner of my eye,
I caught the flash of
white from a sizable black bird in flight and
turned to look at what I
expected to be a pileated woodpecker, a
long-familiar and always welcome
visitor. The bird then flew to the ground about
fifty yards away and
posed in profile. I stared in disbelief,
knowing I was seeing a crow,
not a pileated woodpecker. Even without field
glasses, I could see a
thin white line along the primaries, making
this bird identifiable at
rest.
After posing for a minute or so, the bird then
flew almost directly at
us, passing within twenty feet before wheeling
to land in a neighboring
driveway, joining a couple of normal American
crows already there. They
were all of essentially identical size, with
identical heads, etc --
only differing in the thin white line this bird
showed in its primaries.
The bird posed for another minute or so, before
flying near us again,
then angling off to land well up in a tree
already accommodating a dozen
or so crows. The bird was silent throughout the
five or so minutes we
observed it.
I was amazed by the amount of white I was
seeing, spanning primaries and
secondaries, but seemingly not reaching the
wing tips anywhere. It's a
distinct linear feature, with the long
dimension along the wing -- like
an island of white floating in a black sea.
Sibley says "individuals
with variable white wing-patches are rare but
regular." His drawing (p.
360) doesn't do justice to the amount,
intensity, or geometry of white I
saw, but it's reasonably close. I imagine that
with a variant like this,
individual birds may differ considerably.
I returned to the spot this morning, but
couldn't find the bird among
the two dozen or so crows nearby. I am hopeful
it was more than just a
weekend visitor and will return. This area --
Pimmit Run stream valley
-- has had a resident flock of 100 or so crows
all winter. Specifically,
the location was the edge of woods, bordering
the the cul-de-sac at the
end of Beverly Street in McLean (not to be
confused with the street of
the same name in the heart of McLean; these two
streets are unrelated;
hey, this isn't Arlington), which is also the
entrance to Kent Gardens
Park. The crows spread out along the stream,
for at least a half mile in
each direction. There's a nice hiking trailing
running along the stream.
Living half a mile away, I visit this area
daily for a hike of several
miles. So I will be looking, and will post any
further sightings of this
crow.
I'll be happy to post directions if anyone
wants them.
Dave Jackson
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