Can you identify?

[Tinkerbell]

We spotted a bird today - 23.05.05 - in a carpark in Bridlington; it was in a wooded area over a stream. Strikingly white, with some black markings on its head and wings and very mottled white and black underparts. The white predominated. Yellow beak, the bird is about the size of a thrush. I have submitted a picture of it to the Wild About Britain gallery titled Any ideas? Probably very common, but it has us stumped.

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/ga...atid=newimages

[James]

That's interesting. As it has a visible yellow beak and you say it was around the size of a trush, I'm inclined to think it was a semi-albino male blackbird

On my computer I roughly tried colouring in the correct pigmentation. It still looks a bit stocky to be certain, but I don't think it could be a starling or a nutcracker as they have smaller, more slender bodies

I've seen a blackbird with white tail feathers before. Previously though, I think I caught a glimpse of a rather small gull-like bird running along the ground like a blackbird. It had a yellow beak, but was all white. It was raining at the time and I think the bird made for a shelter under a bush. However, it looked like it was aiming to be inconspicuous, possibly to hide from cats. I didn't get a good enough sighting of it to know. Was the one you saw behaiving more timidly than usual?

[James]

A-Ha!

Thanks to Google Images I think I've found the answer

http://www.bto.org/news/news2004/may...o_bbird_08.htm has a short article on a partial albino blackbird

http://www.dreolin.btinternet.co.uk/...bino_Blabi.htm - a better photo of a partial albino blackbird shown on the gallery to the Dartford Ringing Group

http://www.birding.ch/hybridsandstuf...selzurich.html - a completely albino blackbird as spotted in Switzerland

I think the bird in your photo looks undoubtedly similar to the one in the second link

[Tinkerbell]

Thanks for your detective work James. I agree, the second picture looks most like the bird we saw, with obvious differences, and I believe it must be a semi-albino. I've asked if anyone in the Bridlington area has a better photo to illustrate. That's possibly the second albino I've seen in as many months - what next, an albino eagle?