 |
| Leucistic finch at center of photo--note male further back to the left |
I looked out my back door and saw a white bird on the ground under my feeders. Of course, I grabbed my binoculars and as luck would have it, the bird and its cohort stayed put (which generally is not how it works.) I grabbed my cell phone and snapped a quick picture. Not a great picture, but if you look closely, you can see the leucistic house finch on the ground.
Leucism is caused by a genetic mutation affecting pigmentation. The birds (and other animals) keep their dark eyes (unlike albinism), but have white patches or are white. Here is a
short summary about leucism in birds.
Good birding!
No comments:
Post a Comment