Apparently such white-marked crows are not unheard of. Sibley includes a
drawing of one on page 360 of his Guide to Birds writing that "individuals
with variable white wing-patches are rare but regular." I saw once such bird
at Huntley Meadows about a year ago.
Albest,
Philip B. George
Arlington, VA
From: "David S. Jackson" <djackson@xxxxxxx>
Reply-To: djackson@xxxxxxx
Date: Mon, 08 Apr 2002 11:16:28 -0700
To: va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [va-bird] a rare crow
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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