Monday, I was at the kitchen window and saw what appeared to be a white piece of paper blowing on the ground in the back, where I scatter birdseed. Upon closer observation, the paper turned out to be a bird, about the size of a bluebird. But it wasn’t a bluebird, it was a white bird and I’m not sure what kind of bird it was. I peered through my binoculars, but I couldn’t make out its features. I then tried sneaking up on it and you can imagine how that went. The strange bird flitted away. It was almost entirely white with a whisper of black. The bird pictured above was not the one I saw but is similar in size.
I suspect that the bird is leucistic and not an albino. Both are rare, approximately 1 in 30,000 birds, so my visitor was indeed special.
Albinism affects all melanin production in an animal’s cells, this means that partial albinism cannot exist and there is no color whatsoever. In leucism, it’s a partial loss of all types of pigmentation, including carotenoids. Leucism causes white coloration, white patches, spots, or splotches on the skin or fur, but the eyes, feet and beaks have normal color. I have had a leucistic grackle before, but not one this small.
There were no other birds with the white one, so I don’t know if he is a stray and just passing through or what. I have seen the bird now for three straight days. If I had to guess, I’d say he is a sparrow. He’s white. I know that for sure. Hopefully, he’ll stick around long enough to get closer and maybe I can get a picture.