Monday 25 May 2009

leucistic blackbird

We saw this fabulous leucistic blackbird with white patches in May 2009 at the park on Noads Way in Dibden Purlieu near the New Forest. I had a bit of a read up on it:

Leucism is a general term for the phenotype resulting from defects in pigment cell differentiation and/or migration during development. This results in either the entire surface or patches of body surface having a lack of cells capable of making pigment. This blackbird has localized hypopigmentation or partial leucism which is known as a "pied" or "piebald" effect.

No comments:

Post a Comment