Home › Forums › Open Discussion › Mottled Crows?
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May 14, 2014 at 4:44 pm #611327
wakefloodParticipantNot sure if anyone else has noticed this? I live down by the Fauntleroy ferry and over the last year or so, I’ve noticed at least a handful of grey-white mottled crows about.
There’s one that’s almost half grey and several others with spots on the edges of their wings.
Not sure if this mutation is common or maybe just local to a family down in these parts? Which leads me to wonder whether these mottled ones are treated differently by the others? Are crows discriminatory in nature? ;-)
May 14, 2014 at 5:56 pm #808339
miwsParticipantFor a second there, I thought this was going to be a thread about the merging of a couple highly popular Rock Bands…
;-)
Mike
May 14, 2014 at 6:08 pm #808340
amaliaParticipantIt sounds like leucism – a genetic mutation like partial albinism, causing patches of white to greatly varying degrees. I don’t think animals suffer discrimination from it, although it can make the more visible to predators.
May 14, 2014 at 6:41 pm #808341
wakefloodParticipantHow many predators do crows have these days? It would seem like they have the world on a string! :-)
Still curious if others around WS have seen any or maybe we have the only ones on the peninsula?
May 14, 2014 at 6:52 pm #808342
amaliaParticipantI saw one in Gatewood this spring, and another elsewhere in Seattle (I forget – possible also in West Seattle). I remember because the leucism was perfectly symmetrical.
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It can make other species more susceptible to predators. Crows are pretty wily.
May 14, 2014 at 7:46 pm #808343
miwsParticipantI do seem to remember some talk here on WSB, maybe Forums, Main Page, or both, of albino crow(s) sometime back, like maybe a few years.
Mike
May 14, 2014 at 7:48 pm #808344
wakefloodParticipantWell, there ya’ go. Thanks, Mike, I musta’ missed that!
May 14, 2014 at 7:49 pm #808345
miwsParticipantHere’s the intra-WSB search results:
https://www.google.com/search?q=%22albino+crow%22&sitesearch=westseattleblog.com
May 15, 2014 at 2:53 am #808346
WSBKeymasterAnd RIP Leucy – almost five years now, in our ‘hood:
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https://westseattleblog.com/2009/07/heat-wave-casualty-west-seattles-most-famous-crow/
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