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