Leucistic Birds have you seen any ?

[hannahpanda]

Theres a blackbird that keeps visiting my garden which has one pure white tail feather on one side, is this Leucisticm? I took some very rubbish pictures of it this morning through the window haha!

[pressld2]

Here's Jacko...



Just asked my wife and she thinks it's been two years since we last saw him. The picture was taken on 25 July 2005 - my birthday!

Dave P.

[pressld2]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

And can it be passed down through the generations?

Yes, both leucism and albinism are genetic in origin so any leucistic individual would have to have parents who were either leucistic themselves or carriers of the relevant allele. I don't know for sure if the trait is recessive but I would imagine it is or we'd see a lot more leucistic birds and animals than we do. In which case it is necessary for both parents to be either leucistic themselves or carriers in order for their offspring to be leucistic.

Dave P.

[Feather]

Have a blackbird in our garden too - thanks for all info, shame he is not as unique as we thought! Will now be looking out for other species.

[RobSutton]

Originally Posted by PMG

Ha! ha! Snap we saw that oystercatcher too Rob for a couple or three years - near the rocks where the house with the red roof is!


Pauline

Sounds like the very one - it's a small world!

[wyevilla]

We have had piebald blackbirds in the centre of Dorchester for quite a few years and we have a regular leucistic jackdaw around our house.

The oddest thing I've seen though is a brown Rook in fields to the south of the town. It was not a uniform colour, more reminscent of a hoodies pattern - dark brown and pale fawn. I watched it approach a flock of normal coloured rooks and was waiting for the feathers to fly (I thought at first glance it was a low flying buzzard!). However, very quickly it became obvious that it was not seen as a threat and it landed in amongst its colleagues and proceded to act in a typical rook-like way - stalking over the field and sticking its beak into the ground.

I only saw it the once but did have the opportunity to have a good long look before I had to reluctantly drive on to work. It was good to compare it with its normal-coloured breatren.

Now what would be the term for this colour variation? Chococistic?

[STEinGUZZ]

Hi all,

Just thought I'd mention that images of a Oystercatcher (part albino) has just been posted by Mark Hope in the Gallery. I hope he doesn't mind me mentioning this. There are two very clear shots, I don't think the location is mentioned, but well done to him for capturing a rare sight.

Ste

[Paul mabbott]

One that I'd not seen until yesterday was a moorhen down by the River Sheaf. Strong white rim to the wings and patches on the head and neck. Is this uncommon? Or, indeed, is it partof the maturation process - have seen some very young moorhens recently although these have been brownish rather than white.

[C C]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

One that I'd not seen until yesterday was a moorhen down by the River Sheaf. Strong white rim to the wings and patches on the head and neck. Is this uncommon? Or, indeed, is it partof the maturation process - have seen some very young moorhens recently although these have been brownish rather than white.

I was reading this yesterday on leucistic Moorhens.

Wildlife Extra - Very rare 'Leucistic' moorhen seen in the UK.

[Paul mabbott]

Originally Posted by C C

I was reading this yesterday on leucistic Moorhens.

Wildlife Extra - Very rare 'Leucistic' moorhen seen in the UK.

Thanks - most interesting. Mine was certainly not that white ... but clearly not that uncommon. I suspect that one of the reasons more whiteish moorhens are reported is, like blackbirds, that they're easier to find, view and identify than many other birds?