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 hesa国际传媒檚 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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sa国际传媒淭he parents are black and they typically produce one or two white and usually two or three blacks at the same time,sa国际传媒� 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 thatsa国际传媒檚 not the case.
sa国际传媒淢y theory is they donsa国际传媒檛 survive, otherwise wesa国际传媒檇 have a lot of them around,sa国际传媒� Yip said. sa国际传媒淭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.sa国际传媒�
Yip believes their white feathers arensa国际传媒檛 as durable and warm as black feathers and their eyesight is weaker.
sa国际传媒淭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 arensa国际传媒檛 as durable,sa国际传媒� Yip said.
White ravens are produced by a pair of black common ravens that both possess recessive gene alleles.
sa国际传媒淭heresa国际传媒檚 some years when I donsa国际传媒檛 see [white ravens] but mind you Isa国际传媒檓 not looking for them. Theresa国际传媒檚 still a possibility that there are one or two born every year but itsa国际传媒檚 also possible that they miss a few years because itsa国际传媒檚 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 theysa国际传媒檙e all black,sa国际传媒� Yip said.
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