Albino Crows: Meaning, Symbolism, and Myths
Birds with unusual plumages are rare. Among them, atypical birds such as albino crows and leucistic crows are the most noticed and reported. While any bird with non-white plumage can be affected by these genetic differences, black birds with either of these traits stand out.
A normal young crow is born all black. If a baby crow is born with a pale bill and pale legs, the bird’s eyes are pink and it has white or albinistic plumage, this young bird is an albino. This little bird will have some special challenges to deal with as it grows into an adult crow.
In normal crow reproduction, true albinism occurs about once in every 30,000 birds; leucism happens to approximately 1% of the crow population. Both genetic traits can be found in either American Crow, Fish Crow, Common Raven, or any other member of the Corvid family.
White Crow – is it an Albino, or something else?
By definition, an Albino has a congenital lack of the pigment melanin in the skin or hair, making those white, and in the eyes, which are usually pink.
Leucism covers a variety of conditions which cause white or pale patches on the skin, scales, or feathers but does not affect the eyes, which do not turn pink. In birds, only the feathers are affected. A leucistic crow may be all white, have partially white feathers, or its normal coloration can become muted or washed out.
An albino Crow will be an all-white bird having pale or pink feet, legs and bills, and with pink eyes, but a white Crow with eyes any color other than pink is leucistic. What appears to be a crow with partial albinism is actually a leucistic bird. Of the two, albinism is the rarer genetic condition.
All of the White Ravens that have been found in the wild are leucistic. Their feathers are more ivory or cream than white.
What is the lifespan of an Albino Crow?
A true albino does not have a long lifespan. Along with their poor vision, the total lack of melanin pigment that’s caused by this rare genetic mutation affects the strength of their feathers, causing them to weaken and break. Without flight, birds can’t escape predators.
The majority of pure albino birds do not survive long enough to pass the recessive gene onto the next generation.
Leucistic birds may be white, but the lack of pigment is only within the feathers. Their eyes are not pink so are not affected by light-sensitivity and bad vision. Genetically there are no issues with their retinas and optic nerves. Their vision is the same as regular birds.
Feathers are just as strong in leucistic birds as they are in black crows and ravens. Lifespans of leucistic birds are pretty much the same as normal-colored ones.
What is the Habitat of White or Albino Crows or Ravens?
Crows are found in various habitats, from urban parks to pristine forests. Black, partially black, or pure white, they are all found together.
What are the Threats to White Crows and Ravens?
Aside from the odds stacked against a true albino bird mentioned above, the threats to albino or leucistic birds are the same as to all birds – loss of habitat, climate change, pesticides, and deforestation.
What are the Myths and Symbolisms surrounding Albino Crows and Ravens?
Are Albino Crows blind?
One of the most common myths about albino Crows is that they are blind. However, this is not the case.
Albino birds have poor eyesight and poor depth of field vision due to the lack of pigment in the iris, and other issues with the bird’s eyes like optic nerve and retinal damage as a result of blood vessels being impaired.
Are Albino Crows rare?
Another myth about albino crows is that they are rare. This is true – 1 in 30,000 crows are born an albino; about 1% of the crow population is leucistic.
Are White Crows more likely to be killed by predators?
For certain birds, being white when the rest of flock is another color can be a survival issue.
White birds are common, and if all the birds around you are white too, then color is not a life-threatening issue. But if you are white and the rest of the flock is black, well, the white bird stands out.
With albino and/or leucistic birds, a predator will fix their eye on them faster than the other thirty black birds around them.
Crows and Ravens have a slight advantage over their other avian associates; they are highly intelligent and are big on teamwork, banding together to mob a predator and taking turns attacking them and driving them off.
Along with poor eyesight and being noticeable to predators, albino or white crows have another problem – their own kind may treat them like social pariahs. Because they stand out to birds of prey, they present a danger to any wild birds they associate with.
The old adage is “Birds of a feather flock together”.
Goose species like Barnacle, Pink-footed, even domestic Greylag Geese hang out with Canada Geese in winter.
If you see a large flock of black birds churning overhead, they are usually not all the same species. There could be Red-winged Blackbirds, Brown-headed Cowbirds, and European Starlings mixed in the chaos.
Normal black crows will chase off or shun an all-white crow. Although they look like a crow and caw like a crow, there’s something not “right” about them to another crow.
Look for the albino and white crows on the fringes of a murder of crows.
Because leucistic crows are only partially white, they are accepted as being “normal” so they are not usually ostracized from the flock.
What are some Negative or Positive Associations with Albino or White Crows and Ravens?
In certain cultures, seeing ravens or crows of any color is a bad omen. The birds are associated with death; they are both omnivores and carrion eaters. And like other black creatures, they may be considered evil.
To others, seeing ravens and crows is a good omen. They are messengers between the spirit world and this realm, agents of change and metamorphosis, symbols of resilience, spirituality, and the protectors of humans.
A gathering of crows is called a Murder; a group of ravens is an Unkindness or Conspiracy. If that doesn’t sound like a good thing, well…
In the American South, Albino crows are good omens. Sighting one is considered a blessing. Another aspect of a white crow sighting is that they symbolize purification and/or honesty.
Whether you believe that crows in general are either good or bad, harbingers of death or bringers of blessing depends on local interpretation.
White Crows and Ravens do exist, but seeing them is a rare occurrence. Pure albino crows and ravens are very rare, while leucistic corvids are found slightly more often and have longer lifespans that albinos.
There are areas around the world where all white birds can be found – for example, the chalk cliffs along the English Channel and certain parts of the American South.
You are more likely to encounter a partially-white (leucistic) bird than an albino, but you’ll never know until you get out there and look for them.
