Sightings of an extremely rare creature are putting a tiny Vancouver Island beach town on the map in the worldwide birding community.
White ravens have been spotted near Qualicum Beach, B.C., a town 150 kilometres north of Victoria on the Strait of Georgia.
"It's just so unique, so different. It's unforgettable," photographer Mike Yip said.
In Pictures: The white raven
The birds are believed to be leucistic and not albino, meaning the birds are the result of a genetic defect that produces chicks without regular pigmentation.
"If they're albinos they would have white feathers and white legs and bills and also pink eyes. But these ones have blue eyes," Yip said.
It is believed the last time a white raven was seen was three years ago in England. Before that, one was spotted in Fairbanks, Alaska, in 2003.
Dawn Christensen was out walking her dog in the area when she saw her first white raven two days ago.
"They were just playing around on the grass. I was just amazed to see them," she said.
People in the area have reported seeing the rare birds on and off for at least a decade in the Vancouver Island community. It is believed the condition is passed down from generation to generation.
"The reason that we're having so many white ravens up here is because the parents, who carry the defective genes, are monogamous and long lived, so there's no reason why we can't expect several generations of white ravens," Yip said.
Long heralded in Indian legends, it is believed seeing a white raven means the end of the world is approaching.
Mike Yip favours another explanation.
"The Indian legends talk about the white raven freeing the sun and moon and the stars from some evil person and bringing light back to the world. So when you see a white raven it just reminds people how wonderful they are and how they brought light back to the world," he said.
With a report from A-News' Jonathan Bartlett
