Saturday, November 19, 2016

Leucistic House Sparrow

My contribution to Eileeninmd's Saturday's Critters #153. And I'm also linking to Anni's I'd-Rather-B-Birdin.

I noticed a white bird out the window yesterday, and wondered, "What the heck, is that a parakeet or something with those house sparrows (Passer domesticus)?" Then I put out some more seeds and set up the camera on the tripod. And the bird came back.


"In leucistic birds, affected plumage lacks melanin pigment due to the cells responsible for melanin production being absent. This results in a white feathers, unless the normal plumage colour also comprises carotenoids (e.g. yellows), which remain unaffected by the condition."

Some people say spotting one of these birds is lucky. Guess what, the sparrow was back again this morning (along with many friends). Maybe we can all be in luck!


Mouse over pics for captions, and click them for larger versions.
~

33 comments:

Rajesh said...

Great shows of home sparrow.

TexWisGirl said...

wonderful sighting.

Debbie said...

WoW!!! what a great sighting!!! i have never seen any bird like this, many thanks for the heads up!!! have a wonderful weekend!!!

Author R. Mac Wheeler said...


coll boid

Author R. Mac Wheeler said...

uh...that was supposed to be...cool boid

Small City Scenes said...

That is very interesting. Glad you caught an image of him/her. thanks for sharing.
MB

eileeninmd said...

w=Wow, what a beauty. It reminds me of a Snow Bunting. Great sighting and photos. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

Phil Slade said...

That's a new one on me. I've seen leucistic geese, Blackbird but never a pale House Sparrow, not even partly.

Bob Bushell said...

And that first I've never seen, lovely leucistic House Sparrow.

NatureFootstep said...

such a rare sight. It looks gorgeous as white :)

Christine said...

Thanks for sharing this info as its new to me! Such a pretty little bird too! I am guessing this condition is a bit like an albino condition.

carol l mckenna said...

Sparrows are my favorite and wonderful photos! ~ thanks.

Wishing you a gentle weekend ~ ^_^

Connie Smiley said...

How cool to see that!

Nancy Chan said...

A pretty white bird. A great sighting! Have a great day!

Linda said...

Wow, I haven't seen one of these! Very cool!

Breathtaking said...

Hello, and a very good morning to you. I'm so glad the other sparrows accept the leucistic sparrow, and recognize it as one of their own kind, even though it looks so different. It's a pretty bird and it's the first time I have ever seen one. What a great sighting.

Anni said...

Incredible. It's almost marked like a finch.
...and it's beautiful.

It was a wonderful, so enjoyable post today. Thanks for coming by and adding your link this weekend at I'd Rather B Birdin' for us bird enthusiasts!!

Anonymous said...

Amazing!
What a rare find
Hope you are having a great week-end!

Lee Ann L. said...

Lovely! I also viewed Nutkin and I adore squirrels!

Jeanne said...

Looks as if they are loving that bird feed

GreenComotion said...

Good on you friend!
Lovely photo treat, thanks.
Have a Happy Day!
Peace :)

Mostly.Nature said...

Nice find. Would love to have seen it.

Michelle said...

That is a great sighting!!!!

Lois said...

Wow! What a wonderful sight and your photos are great.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

That is really neat. The Bronx Zoo had a leucistic snapping turtle for years.

Al said...

It's a pretty sparrow. I don't see many of them around here.

Cranberry Morning said...

Pretty little birds! We're going to have to start feeding the birds in another day or so. We have a bare ground right now, but snow is supposed to start tomorrow. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

baili said...

this sparrow looks different and well explained by you.
i enlarged and enjoyed looking at these two little so lovely birds.
they reminded me my childhood days when sparrows were in abundance around me back in village .

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

That is really interesting! Id seen the word before on birding sites, but didnt really know what it meant. I hope it brings you luck!

orchid0324 said...

Hello; Wow what LOVELY birds, it must be really fantastic to see these different colors together☆☆☆
I wish I could have such luck♪ When I was young (half a century ago:-), there were lots of sparrows in the rice paddy.
Thank you SO much for your kind visits and sorry for my absence. Have a wonderful week.

Sincerely, Miyako*

Helma said...

Very special to see these sparrow with some white feathers.
Very nice that you could shoot this bird.
Greetings, Helma

A Colorful World said...

What an amazing sighting! A beautiful little bird!

Kenneth Cole Schneider said...

That is an amazing find!