History of the extant museum specimens of the Faroese white-speckled raven. Issue 1 (April 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Van Grouw, H.; Bloch, D.
• Is Part Of: Archives of natural history. Volume 42:Issue 1(2015)
• Page Start: 23
• Page End: 38
• Publication Date: 2015-04
• Subjects: Faroese raven -- pied raven -- Corvus leucophaeus -- Alfred Benzon; Natural history -- History -- Periodicals; 508.09005
• DOI: 10.3366/anh.2015.0276
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0260-9541

Abstract

Abstract : The white-speckled raven, a colour aberration of the Faroese raven Corvus corax varius Brünnich, 1764, has occurred on the Faroe Islands since at least the Middle Ages, and was always prized by collectors. In the second half of the nineteenth century while the Faroese raven population as a whole was suffering intense persecution, pied individuals were even more severely hunted, and were extinct by the beginning of the twentieth century. Details of twenty six specimens found in museum collections are given in this paper, as well as an overview of collectors on the Faroes who may have collected specimens.