This all white crow was spotted in Falkland in October, 2023.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Shelley Unruh
October 03, 2023 - 4:01 PM
A rare white crow is hanging around in the North Okanagan just in time for Halloween.
The 'ghost' crow was spotted near the Falkland museum and one resident has been observing the leucistic bird for a couple of months.
“He’s a member of a huge murder of crows that live in some big corn fields just outside of town,” Marianne Unruh said. “He comes onto our property all the time. I have a big yard and after it rains his flock comes to eat worms.”
Unruh said the white crow was a baby the first time she saw it and it has almost grown to the same size as others in the flock. She said her daughter was able to get a photo of the rare bird, Oct. 8.
“He's very tricky, he’s always in a flock and fast, so its hard to get a clear photo of him,” she said.
Unruh calls the bird a ghost crow after one of Falkland’s most popular annual events called The Haunting of Falkland, but others call the bird different names, like Betty White for one.
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Birds with leucism have reduced pigmentation due to a genetic mutation according to The Spruce. The birds can have white patches where there shouldn’t be, paler overall plumage or all white plumage.
Birds that show patches or sections of leucistic feathers are called piebald birds, while birds with fully white plumage are referred to as leucistic birds. The species of a leucistic birds can be identified by its habits, behaviours and what birds it flocks with.
— This story was corrected at 9:53 a.m. Oct.4 to clarify the bird is leucistic and not albino.
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