Jon - I still hold it (deliberately) as a poem, and appreciate it as such.
Knowing only a little about Ravens and other Corvids from reading popular science books about them and observing them in the wild and in the context of movies, television and documentaries, I like the thought of an Albino in your Unkindness, Conspiracy or Constabulary (only applied at the Tower of London?) or even better an un(der)codumented Chihuahuan hanging out with our more (common to us) Raven. It may be entirely my perception, but I've been unable discern any significant difference in morphology, plumage, behaviour among the Raven's I've encountered in my own travels including Sweden. A little Wikipedianing tells me that Corvus Corax is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere and among subspecies their appearance apparently does not change much. I've lived within the range of Chihuahuan Ravens but never recognized any as such... though I have struggled to distinguish Ravens from Common Crows at times where perhaps the Chihuahuan was the more commonly seen Raven, as I do have a faint memory of Raven-shaped/sized "crows" that were distinct in appearance and behaviour from crows... I never noticed any white, though wikipedia suggests it is subtle and may require some wind-ruffling to expose? I am more aware of the wide range of appearance and behaviour among magpies (near cousin to ravens?) across my travels. I have a pair whose territory includes my house and 4 years ago got to watch them nest, hatch and fledge 3 young from a large singular cottonwood behind my house. They have not nested there since and the youngsters wandered off within the year... but it was fun while they were all resident (and in self-discovery). When I moved here I had a huuuge magpie next in a huuuge russian olive... the house had been vacant for the entire spring before I bought mid-summer which may have allowed/encouraged that nesting. I saw the nest but the parents were very furtive until I began to hear the babies and see the regular trips for feeding them. They "flew the nest" early I suspect because of us... all of them (I forget how many babies, but more than 2) were gone within a month or so. It was just a few years later that West Nile swept up the Rio Grande wiping out (virtually?) all Magpies... this year was the first time I've seen *any* in my section of the bosque, though I hear they have been slowly returning (migrating down from the north along the Bosque from CO?). - Steve On 2/4/21 1:39 PM, [email protected] wrote: > What you wrote was so close to a poem, I took it as such, at first, until I > read the question at the end. > > The short answer is "I don't know!" > > Now for the educated guesses: > > 1. Albinism is a simple matter, genetically; possibly a one gene > knockout. So, yes to your question. > 2. Sun glints off bird's feathers. Perhaps your bird caught the > sun right? So, no to your question. > 3. There are ravens that live south of here, in the Bosque, and up > into the Sangres, called the white-necked or Chuhuahuan Raven. The > juveniles have a white patch above their shoulders. So, perhaps, maybe to > your question. > > Nick > > Nick Thompson > [email protected] > https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/ > > -----Original Message----- > From: Friam <[email protected]> On Behalf Of jon zingale > Sent: Thursday, February 4, 2021 2:24 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [FRIAM] While walking to get tacos... > > Above my house, an unkindness of ravens flew. > And distinguished from the many was one > whose feathers shone white, almost translucent against the sky in the bright > sunlight. > Is this a common genetic variant? > > > > -- > Sent from: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ > > - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam un/subscribe > http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ > > > - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam > un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
