Strange Bird

I saw a very unusual bird in my village last week. K had seen it around the area when he’s been out with the dog. A couple of days later he managed to take this photo.

It’s a leucistic jackdaw (normally they are all black with grey at the back of the head like the other bird in the picture). Leucism is a mutation that affects the production of melanin , the pigment in the feathers. It can result in anything from just a few white feathers to a completely white bird. This individual is speckled all over, with a mix of black and white feathers.

Some people refer to this condition as partial albinism, but there is actually no such thing. It’s rather like saying someone is partially pregnant!. An animal can be either albino or not! True albinism is characterised by having no pigment anywhere , including the eyes, giving them a pink appearance. Leucistic birds’ eyes are of normal colour. Such creatures rarely survive in nature. The lack of eye pigment impairs their sight, making it harder to find food or spot predators (to which they are a very visible target).

Our local speckled jackdaw is not the only unusually coloured bird in the area. There have been sightings of white pheasants in neighbouring villages and I saw one a couple of weeks back. I wasn’t quick enough to photograph it, but it looked just like these, posted on Facebook recently. These pheasants may be captive-bred ornamental escapes.

The red wattles really stood out against the white plumage: it was a very beautiful bird indeed. I felt quite privileged to have seen it. I didn’t get quite close enough to see the colour of its eyes though so I’m not sure if it was a true albino or leucistic.

Have you ever come across a wild bird with leucism or albinism?