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part-albino crow at Duke; kinglets



Hi Carolinabirders,

I was riding down Erwin Road in Durham with a friend today when a few 
crows flew overhead and into the large pines bordering campus. Nothing 
noteworthy there, until I noticed that one crow had a large white patch 
under its white wing! I'm quite sure that this was a Fish/American type 
crow with aberrant pigmentation, not a Magpie or Pied Crow or other 
species. Just the same, it's not every day you can pick one individual 
crow out of the thousands that live in the area, so Durham-based birders, 
watch for this guy; I'd be interested in hearing other sightings of 
him/her.

On the kinglet front, I was a little concerned when, after last winter's 
post-blizzard kinglet disappearance, the Golden-crowned Kinglets showed 
up in large numbers this fall with virtually no Ruby-crowns around. 
However, after a week or two of that, the numbers seem to have equalized; 
now I seem to see large numbers of both, as expected, including on an 
impromptu walk in the woods along the Duke campus just an hour or so ago. 
Even had a Ruby-crown in the shrub outside my girlfriend's suburban (9th 
street) Durham apartment window yesterday morning.

A reminder to anyone who looks for the Mango today to please, please, 
PLEASE post prompt updates to Carolinabirds! Those of us who are 
seriously considering playing hooky tomorrow, or delaying our departure 
for Thanksgiving on Wednesday, to possibly come admire this amazing 
critter will be forever grateful... Promptness is especially appreciated 
due to the 8 PM deadline for calling the homeowner to ask permission to 
visit her yard.

Thanks, and Good birding,

Josh



Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)

jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/