White and colored raven

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400 oyrur stamp with drawn bird motif
White and colored raven on a Faroe Islands postage stamp

The white and white raven was a special color morph of the north-western subspecies Corvus corax varius of the common raven . The white and white raven was only found in the Faroe Islands and has been considered extinct since the middle of the 20th century.

The White Colorful Rabe is on Faroese hvítravnur , which literally means white raven means. Like its "cousin", the Faroese raven, the white and colored raven was also black, but with large white feathers interspersed with isolated black feathers. The remaining specimens show small differences, but all have white areas on the head, wings and belly. Their legs are just as black as those of the black raven, but their beaks are light brown.

It is considered to have been proven that this morph was not a single black raven albino , but a constantly occurring population.

Presumably the white and white raven lived in the Faroe Islands at least since the Middle Ages . He has been described many times. The oldest source is the Faroese ballad Fuglakvæði eldra from before 1500, which mentions 40 species of birds, including the giant alk . Among others, the White Colorful Rabe is also in the Faroe descriptions of Lucas Debes (1673) and Jens Christian Svabo (1781/ 82 above). Even Carl Julian Graba reported in 1828 by ten copies, which he had seen himself, and described him as often right. However, the black Faroese raven has been more common at all times.

The first Faroese painter, Díðrikur á Skarvanesi (1802–1865), who was known for his depictions of birds, owes a picture of the white and colored raven, which can still be seen today in the Faroe Islands Art Museum .

Because of its rarity, the white and white raven was a sought-after collector's item by foreign collectors, and consequently its stock declined more and more due to hunting. For example, it is reported from the 19th century that the mayor Hans Christopher Müller paid two Danish Reichstaler for a prepared specimen from Nólsoy .

One of the last specimens was killed on November 2, 1902 on Mykines . In autumn 1916 a white and white raven was seen near Velbastaður and on Koltur . The last known specimen appeared on Nólsoy in the snowy winter of 1947 and then again in the second half of 1948. Due to the increased attention given to the last specimens, it is unlikely that there were any more individuals afterwards. Since then, the white and white raven has been considered extinct.

Today there are still 15 known preparations worldwide: 6 in Copenhagen , 4 in New York , 2 in Uppsala and 1 each in Leiden , Braunschweig and the Museum für Tierkunde Dresden .

In 1995, the extinct white and colored raven was immortalized on a stamp of the Faroese Post , which was drawn by the Faroese scientific artist Astrid Andreasen .

  • Specimen of a white and white raven, shot in the Faroe Islands on September 24, 1869. Copenhagen Zoological Museum

  • White and White Raven, Kollafjørður , September 24, 1869. Copenhagen Zoological Museum

  • White and colored raven (copy). Føroya Náttúrugripasavn (Faroese Museum of Natural History), Tórshavn

  • White and colored ravens in the Copenhagen Zoological Museum

Web links

Wiktionary: hvítravnur  - explanations of meanings, word origins , synonyms, translations