White-marked crows!

[Wyla]

I just wish I'd had my camera with me! I saw a very odd crow today, thought it was a magpie before closer inspection. It was hopping around quite happily with two others, all normal but- it's 'greater under primary coverts' (what a mouthful!) were white! Just on the underside of its wings. He really was striking

I'm just wondering if such colourings are common in crows? I was trying to scout out a picture online of something simular but had no such luck.

Thanks,
Meg

[aeshna5]

Certainly in some of the cental London parks there are quite a few Crows showing variable amounts of white, lacking the black pigment, melanin.

I've had it suggested to me that in these birds it may be caused by a dietary deficiency, though I don't know how accurate that is. In most birds the lack of pigment is usually a genetic character.

[nightshade]

I have several local corvids with white markings mainly like yours on the underwing

[Dogrose]

White markings tend to turn up in animals that are genetically evolved to (at least) tolerate humans. I'd guess wild animals that are used to living in cities are much more likely to develop colour mutations, its an indication of changes in the physiology and chemistry of the brain which occur with the development of tolerance of humans. I've seen a photo of a city Fox with white legs, and the other day saw a beautiful melanistic Fox that had been splat on the city ringroad in broad daylight.
Where I used to live in Somerset there was a colony of sparrows that often threw pure white specimins, they looked like white canaries. These were probably albinos, although I never got close enough to see the eye colour.

[winniewig]

I have seen a couple of black bird's with the odd feather or two of white where I live, in a Somerset town recently. But on a farm about 5 miles away, I noticed a crow with an odd white feather, 5-6 years ago he arrived, now there's several crow's, with several white feathers! In the same place there is also a male house sparrow with one white tail feather.

[epops]

there's a pied rook and also an almost grey one along the A120 up near braintree i've seen them on and of for a couple of years

[Cazzie]

I've seen a couple of Jackdaws in my back garden with some odd white feathers in their plumage.

[paulchandler6]

Have seen crows with variable amounts of white on upperwings in Oxfordshire over the past years, not common but regular. Cheers