The pied raven (''Corvus corax varius'' morpha ''leucophaeus'') is an extinct
colour morph of the North Atlantic
subspecies
In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
of the
common raven
The common raven or northern raven (''Corvus corax'') is a large all-black passerine bird. It is the most widely distributed of all Corvidae, corvids, found across the Northern Hemisphere. There are 11 accepted subspecies with little variatio ...
that was only found on the
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...
. The last confirmed record was in 1902.
The pied raven had large areas of white feathering, most frequently on the head, the wings and the belly, and its beak was light brown. Apart from that, it looked like the all-black North Atlantic ravens (''C. c. varius'' morpha ''typicus''),
which remains widespread in the Faroe Islands and are also found in
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
.
History
The pied raven received
binomial
Binomial may refer to:
In mathematics
*Binomial (polynomial), a polynomial with two terms
*Binomial coefficient, numbers appearing in the expansions of powers of binomials
*Binomial QMF, a perfect-reconstruction orthogonal wavelet decomposition
* ...
names such as ''Corvus leucophaeus'' (by
Vieillot, 1817) and ''Corvus leucomelas'' (by
Wagler, 1827). It is currently referred to as ''Corvus corax varius'' morpha ''leucophaeus''.
Description

In modern
Faroese, the bird is called ''hvítravnur'' ("white raven"), older name ''gorpur bringu hvíti'' ("white-chested corbie"). Normal individuals of the
subspecies
In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
''varius'', which is found on
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
and the Faroe Islands, already show a tendency towards more extensive white
feather
Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and an exa ...
bases compared with the
nominate subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics ( morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. ...
. But, only on the Faroes, a
mutation
In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, ...
in the
melanin
Melanin (; ) is a family of biomolecules organized as oligomers or polymers, which among other functions provide the pigments of many organisms. Melanin pigments are produced in a specialized group of cells known as melanocytes.
There are ...
metabolism
Metabolism (, from ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the co ...
would become fixed in the population, causing some birds to have about half of their feathers entirely white. While
albino
Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and reddish pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albinos.
Varied use and interpretation of ...
tic specimens sometimes occur in bird populations, the pied raven seems not to have been based on such occasional "sports", but on a constantly or at least regularly present part of the local raven population.

The first record of the pied raven seems to be in the pre-1500 ''
kvæði
Kvæði are the old ballads of the Faroe Islands, accompanied by the Faroese chain dance.
They typically recite stories and can have hundreds of stanzas plus a refrain, chorus sung between every verse.
History
It is generally thought that Fa ...
'' ''Fuglakvæði eldra'' ("The elder ballad of birds") which mentions 40 local species, including the
great auk
The great auk (''Pinguinus impennis''), also known as the penguin or garefowl, is an Extinction, extinct species of flightless bird, flightless auk, alcid that first appeared around 400,000 years ago and Bird extinction, became extinct in the ...
. Later, the pied raven is mentioned in the reports of
Lucas Debes (1673) and
Jens Christian Svabo (1781/82).
Carl Julian von Graba in 1828 speaks of ten individuals he saw himself and states that these birds, while less numerous than the black morph, were quite common.
Díðrikur á Skarvanesi, the Faroe painter, painted the ''Fuglar'' series, a number of portrayal of birds. On his ''18 fuglar'' ("18 birds"), the animal in the lower right corner can be identified as a pied raven. The painting is currently on display in the
Listaskálin museum of Faroe art in
Tórshavn
Tórshavn (; ; Danish language, Danish: ''Thorshavn''), usually locally referred to as simply Havn, is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of th ...
.
Extinction
As exemplified by Skarvanesi's painting, which obviously was done from stuffed birds, the pied raven was an object of interest to collectors. During the nineteenth century, the pied birds were selectively shot because they could fetch high prices; the ''sýslumaður'' (
sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...
) of
Streymoy
Streymoy (, ) is the largest and most populated island of the Faroe Islands. The capital, Tórshavn, is located on its southeast coast. The name means "island of currents". It also refers to the largest region of the country that also includes the ...
, Hans Christopher Müller once paid two
Danish rigsdaler
The rigsdaler was the name of several currencies used in Denmark until 1875. The similarly named Reichsthaler, riksdaler and rijksdaalder were used in Germany and Austria-Hungary, Sweden and the Netherlands, respectively. These currencies were of ...
for a stuffed specimen from
Nólsoy
Nólsoy (, previously also ''Nölsoy''; ; ) is an island and village in central Faroe Islands, 4km east of the capital Tórshavn in Streymoy.
Description
Nólsoy is the lowest of the Faroes; the highest point is Eggjarklettur (372 m) on the moun ...
. Such sums, a healthy amount of money for the impoverished Faroe farmers, made shooting a pied raven a profitable enterprise. Additionally, ravens in general were hunted as pests. In the mid-eighteenth century, every Faroe male of hunting age was ordered by royal decree (see
Naebbetold) to shoot at least one raven or two other predatory birds per year or be fined four
skillings. The last confirmed pied raven was shot on November 2, 1902, on
Mykines. Subsequently, there were a few reported sightings of white ravens: in the autumn of 1916 on
Velbastaður
Velbastaður () is a village on the island of Streymoy in the Faroe Islands. It is a part of Tórshavn Municipality and is considered among the oldest settlements in the islands. There are two schools and one kindergarten in the village, with chi ...
and
Koltur
Koltur is an island in the Faroe Islands, located to the west of Streymoy and to the north-west of Hestur. The name 'Koltur' means ' colt', in contrast with the name of the larger island to the south-east, 'Hestur', which means 'horse'. The islan ...
, in the winter of 1947 on Nólsoy and again sighted the next year, and in the spring of 1965 on
Sandvík
Sandvík (pronounced , "Sandy Bay"; ) is the northernmost village of the island of Suðuroy in the Faroe Islands. It is situated on the northern side of a shallow fjord. The village was previously known as Hvalvík (''Bay of Whales''). It changed ...
.
[ Because none of these sight records mentioned the unique black-and-white pattern and a small number of diluted, all-whitish ravens have been observed in recent decades in the Faroe Islands, none of these are officially recognised as pied ravens. Consequently, 1902 is generally considered as the year of extinction for the pied raven.][
The pied raven, being a colour variation, likely only differed in one or very few ]allele
An allele is a variant of the sequence of nucleotides at a particular location, or Locus (genetics), locus, on a DNA molecule.
Alleles can differ at a single position through Single-nucleotide polymorphism, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), ...
s (as opposed to numerous genes in a true subspecies) from the black birds. The "piebald" allele(s) was or were presumably recessive
In genetics, dominance is the phenomenon of one variant (allele) of a gene on a chromosome masking or overriding the effect of a different variant of the same gene on the other copy of the chromosome. The first variant is termed dominant and ...
or (if more than one) only caused the novel coloration if they were all present. This is supported by the last sightings which occurred in the absence of a regular breeding population of piebald birds, and the observations of H. C. Müller. Thus, it is not certain that the form is indeed extinct, if one can speak of "extinction" in any but a population genetical sense anyway. Theoretically, the allele(s) could still be present but hidden in black individuals of the subspecies and thus, a pied raven could once again be born one day. Although the raven remains fairly common in the Faroes, its population in the small archipelago is, however, only 200–300 breeding pairs. Because ravens with a diluted, all-whitish plumage have been sighted in the Faroes, also in recent decades, the alleles for that aberrancy still exists in the archipelago, but this is unlikely to be the same genes involved in the pied pattern. Corvids with a diluted plumage occur with some regularity in many countries.[
]
Today, 16 museum specimens of the pied raven are known: six in the Zoologisk Museum (Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
, Denmark); four in the American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...
(New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
, United States); two in the Museum of Evolution (Uppsala
Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019.
Loc ...
, Sweden); one in the Naturalis Biodiversity Center (Leiden
Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
, the Netherlands); one in State Natural History Museum (Braunschweig
Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( ; from Low German , local dialect: ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...
, Germany); one in the State Museum of Zoology (Dresden
Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
, Germany); and one in the Manchester Museum
Manchester Museum is a museum displaying works of archaeology, anthropology and natural history and is owned by the University of Manchester, in England. Sited on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road (A34 road, A34) at the heart of the university's group ...
(Manchester, United Kingdom). On June 12, 1995, the Postverk Føroya issued the postal stamp FR 276, which featured a pied raven. It was designed by the famous Faroese artist and scientific illustrator Astrid Andreasen.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1974966
External links
b/w photo of the Braunschweig specimen
Corvus
Extinct birds of Europe
Bird extinctions since 1500
Birds described in 1817
Extinct birds of Atlantic islands
Morphas