I'm not sure how long I had been feeding Paksmala before I noticed she was different. To be honest, I'm not sure how long I've known her.
I first noticed her markings when I was going through some photographs I had taken to familiarize myself with the small and unique faces and features of the crows along my afternoon route. I saw this one and thought, "Oh, that's pretty."
I didn't give much thought the the spots over her eyes. I figured it was probably some dirt or something that happened to catch the light nicely.
Most of the time when I feed crows in the afternoon I just watch and walk the dog, get fresh air and exercise. So a couple months went by before I brought the camera back out again. That's when I noticed a familiar face.
She was very friendly with me, following me around, and even obliging me with a photo op.
Leucism occurs when part of the plumage does not have any melanin for pigmentation. It is different from albinism in that it only occurs in some areas, whereas albinism affects the plumage and soft tissues. I was super excited to make this "discovery" because in the last six months of staring at crows for hours each day, I had never seen a crow with leucism. I did see this funny little crow with white feet, but I am not certain if that is the same thing.
(I secretly named this crow Gordon Whitefoot, but I haven't seen them since. I think they were just passing through on the way to the winter roost.)
When I got my new camera my dog and I hit the streets in search of Paksmala. We found her, but because the camera was so new to me, I had a focus fail, and wound up with a bunch of pictures that looked like this:
It could have been such a beautiful shot...
I went home and read the manual and came back the next day. It was hot, I was grumpy, and Pilot just wanted lay in the grass, but we schlepped ourselves and the gear over to the corner where we'd last seen the extraordinary crow, and got some photos that I am very pleased with.
Paksmala has four distinct white markings over her right eye, and one larger white mark over her left.
According to the all-knowing internet, the word paksmala means "possessing exquisite eyelashes" in Sanskrit. It seemed like an appropriate name for this crow.
While I can't say for certain if this is leucism, I am not sure what else it would be. I have read that leucism is hereditary, and I am kicking myself now for not checking to see if the other crow she was with had any markings. I think that she is juvenile, in which case the accompanying crow right now would probably be her father or sibling. This of course is all speculation, since I haven't been observing her family closely and don't even know if Paksmala is juvenile or even female for that matter. These are just educated guesses based on my self-taught American Crow immersion study program. That sounds like it could be a real thing...
Anyhow, looks like I'll be dragging my camera out on the afternoon walk again soon.
Poor Pilot.
Thanks for visiting!