HE may look more scarecrow than crow with his strange mix of black and white feathers, deformed beak, ungainly walk and generally unkempt appearance but this regular visitor to Tesco Wick's car park certainly knows about the benefits of a fly snack.

The carrion crow (Corvus corone) is usually totally black but this one has a genetic condition called leucism in which some of the feathers appear white due to a lack of melanin pigments. The condition can be either hereditary or brought on by a diet low in protein.

Dietary imbalance can impair the bird’s growth and impact its overall health, resulting in poor body condition and fragile feathers with less flight efficiency – as seems to be the case with this poor bedraggled bird. The abnormalities can also affect the bird’s ability to find a mate which might explain why he operates alone.

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On Monday afternoon, the carnivorous corvid was back in the car park and making up for any dietary issues by hopping from car to car and munching on dead flies that had been splattered on front grills and bumpers.

And, after the recent fly plague that hit Caithness it seems that the comical character is fast making up on any dietary deficiencies with the meals on wheels that regularly appear on his patch. The raggedy bird has been spotted around other parts of Wick as well but always has time to pop back to Tescos for a quick snack.

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