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Rare white raven seen on Vancouver Island

The bird was photographed near a family farm in Coombs
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A new white raven has been spotted near Coombs. — Mike Yip photo

Mike Yip - Special to Black Press

A few years ago I dubbed the Qualicum region of Vancouver Island as the “White Raven Capital” based on about 20 continuous years of rare white ravens being produced by a pair of black common ravens.

It was an extremely unusual phenomenon seldom seen in the whole world, requiring both parents to possess recessive gene alleles.

The white ravens attracted worldwide interest, but the string ended around 2013 possibly because the parents were beyond their breeding age.

Amazingly, five years later, a newly fledged white raven has been produced by a new pair of common ravens on the Kroot family farm in Coombs.

The bird has been seen at various locations along Winchester Road, but it has been returning regularly to the Kroot farm.

Based on the scientific definition the bird is leucistic and not an albino because it has blue eyes.

— Mike Yip is a nature photographer and the author of Vancouver Island Birds and Vancouver Island Butterflies.

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Mike Yip Photo A new White Raven has been spotted near Coombs.




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