Residents in the Parksville Qualicum Beach area have another chance to see the mysterious white raven.
For two decades, white ravens have periodically appeared in the Coombs-Hilliers region, and this year two new ones have appeared to continue the tradition, according to local nature photographer and author Mike Yip.
Yip, who spotted his first white raven in 2007, said the birds are born in the area and any he鈥檚 observed have been newborns.
The ravens are all white except for blue eyes, which classifies them as leucistic as opposed to albinistic.
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鈥淭he parents are black and they typically produce one or two white and usually two or three blacks at the same time,鈥� Yip said.
With the regular birth of one or two white ravens a year, Yip said it could be expected to see many in the region, but that鈥檚 not the case.
鈥淢y theory is they don鈥檛 survive, otherwise we鈥檇 have a lot of them around,鈥� Yip said. 鈥淭he fact is, basically after December no one sees them until the new ones are born, so my theory is that either they disperse, but if they dispersed they would be reported elsewhere, or they never survive which is why we never hear about them when they should be adults.鈥�
Yip believes their white feathers aren鈥檛 as durable and warm as black feathers and their eyesight is weaker.
鈥淭he [black] feathers have melanin in them and that gives the feathers strength and warmth and so with the absence of melanin the feathers definitely aren鈥檛 as durable,鈥� Yip said.
White ravens are produced by a pair of black common ravens that both possess recessive gene alleles.
鈥淭here鈥檚 some years when I don鈥檛 see [white ravens] but mind you I鈥檓 not looking for them. There鈥檚 still a possibility that there are one or two born every year but it鈥檚 also possible that they miss a few years because it鈥檚 a genetic defect and if both (parents) get the recessive gene they end up with white [babies] but there could be years where no one gets the recessive genes so they鈥檙e all black,鈥� Yip said.
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