For six months, a rare white raven took up residence in Anchorage. But now it has moved on, leaving locals who loved the leucistic bird in limbo.
Over the six months that the White Raven was in Anchorage, photographer Jennifer Olson captured the many faces of the bird on her Android cell phone.
And while a raven of any other color would be as full of mischief, somehow its white feathers and clear blue eyes stole the hearts of Spenard, the Anchorage neighborhood where this love story first began. The bird was last photographed in town on April 20. On the next day, a photo was posted of the bird in a back yard in Soldotna, not far from where a white raven hatchling was spotted last summer.
“If you’re sitting on the east side of town a few hours before dusk in the wintertime,” Sinnott says, “you’ll see lots of ravens flying towards the mountains, hundreds.”“They come in, and they’re hungry from the night. And it’s cold, so they eat for several hours,” Sinnott said. “And then they have most of the rest of the day to play. It’s a pretty good life.”
You can find other white raven swag, such as coffee mugs, mouse pads and commemorative tea towels. But Courchaine says photographs taken by Michelle Hanson are among the favorites. One of the best sellers is what she calls a yin-and-yang photo of the white raven, soaring in tandem with a black one. “I believe she’s female, just based on her body language and behavior,” Hanson said. “She just seems like she’s a boss, and she can hold her own.”
“I like to think so, because there are some tender moments there,” Hanson said. “But based off of the age, I don’t think they’re necessarily a love couple. You never know.” Gregory Ryan Messimer, a Kenai cab driver and wildlife enthusiast, captured this photo of the white raven on July 4, 2023, drinking water near where it hatched north of Kenai. He wondered if the bird was fascinated by its own reflection.
Although this photo taken by Gregory Ryan Messimer on June 16, 2023 is grainy, it shows the white raven being fed by its mother. Messimer says it appeared the bird’s mother put a lot of effort into feeding her white hatchling. Either way, the white raven’s departure from Anchorage has left a hole in the hearts of many, especially for Charlene Apok, an Alaska Native activist.
“I couldn’t really believe it. It was kind of surreal in the moment,” says Towarak, who first encountered the white raven on October 20, as he walked along Spenard.“But then I looked a little closer and there’s another raven with it, and then it cawed,” Towarak said, “and I was like, ‘Is that a white raven?’”
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