Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Leucistic Blackbird

Whilst photographing the Song Thrushes in my recent post, I spotted a Blackbird with an abnormal amount of white in its plumage. I went back to the same spot last Saturday to see if it was still around, and it was. It seemed a little more elusive than the 'normal' Blackbirds, but eventually I was able to obtain a few reasonable shots of it:




This was in the same area as a Blackbird I photographed here two years ago. Not sure whether it is the same bird, or whether it is a descendant sharing some of the same leucistic genes.

7 comments:

  1. Very unusual marking indeed, but very beautiful. Lovely photos Jeremy.

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  2. I've seen ones with a little white but not as much as that. It is rather attractive I think. Lovely photos Jeremy.

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  3. We had a Goldfinch with very similar markings and virtually no black feathers, lovely photo

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  4. We had one about two years ago, maybe some new birds, lol.

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  5. I dont know what the longevity of Blackbirds is supposed to be, but that particular Blackbird has been around for a good few years now. His territory is in the vicinity of that old stone font and can always be seen in that area. What I have noticed recently is that there are now a few male Blackbirds in the park with white markings so I assume they are his offspring and he has passed this on to them. Similarly there is a male Chaffinch in the park who has been around for a couple of years whom I have named stumpy because of his abnormal left claw. More recently I have now noticed other male Chaffinches in the vicinity with leg deformities and I assume he has passed on the faulty gene???

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  6. Hi Stifyn,
    I've also seen Chaffinches there with those leg deformities. Could be genetic, or it could be a disease: http://btoringing.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/papilloma-in-chaffinches-not-for-faint.html

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