pale magpie

[headshot]

not the best pic i'm afraid,i will get the chip from the camera and download the proper pics on....out the other evening and seen a bird sat next to a magpie on some wires.
first glance we swore it was a kukkaborough lol,turns out to be a all white magpie,it looks a bit orange the way the light is...atb kev

http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/yy264/headshot_05/Mobile%20Uploads/CAM00550_zpsqtotmij0.jpg (http://s798.photobucket.com/user/headshot_05/media/Mobile%20Uploads/CAM00550_zpsqtotmij0.jpg.html)

[Pootle]

That's lovely. We used to have a blackbird with a white head nesting in our garden. It was there for about five years, so it couldn't have been at a great disadvantage.

[Metal mug]

That's lovely. We used to have a blackbird with a white head nesting in our garden. It was there for about five years, so it couldn't have been at a great disadvantage. I used to see a blackbird with white wings in our garden. Saw it fairly regularly for a couple of years.

[DuxDawg]

Leucistic?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucism

[Pootle]

That's the word. someone in the uni birding group has a fully leucistic blackbird in her garden. amazing thing.

[David_JAFO]

hello,
Bump.. :p I always find this of interest.. the hooded crow which is closely related to the carrion crow (Corvid family). I've spotted a pair today whilst on walkabout South Lanarkshire. I've heard the old argument until recently the "hoody" was regarded as the same species there may be some interbreeding with the use of the word "hybrids" showing a mixed grey and black body plumage. I spotted the pair with a groups of carrion crows in woods & previous to this 3 in the same area. In 2014 I'm sure 1 was reported found dead after being hit by a truck near the same area. *Leucism is a condition in which there is partial loss of pigmentation in this instance a blackbird resulting in white, pale, or patchy coloration of the feathers. Not far from where I was walking one of the lads took us to an area where there was such. He said in the past after spotting the (not so) blackbird the argument began about the hooded crows & *hybrids.
Regards
David

[shepherd]

very cool T^ while out goose shooting with my boss a while ago we saw a white Canada goose.. something neither of us had seen before. and is was 100% a Canada... we told afew people about it and every man and his dog was out after it for their wall... luckily noone got it that i know of..

[David_JAFO]

hello,
My post slightly :off-topic: I spotted a Honey Buzzard a few years ago, there's loads of sightings of Buzzards, quite common around here often mistaken for Golden Eagles too. Anyway.. I spotted this Buzzard on a fence post unusual shaped head & beak. Just shooting the breeze I made a general enquiry through the RSPB, before I knew it a number of e-mails "Where??" I described such direct to the RSPB (Scotland) & Scottish Wildlife Trust & a girl came out from the RSPB & later another lad from the Scottish raptor study group. I took them to where I first spotted it & it was still there. We received permission from the Traffic Police to use their layby for Patrol Vehicles only as this was a vantage point. They were interested too. I know that giving out the location of these rarities could endanger the species etc.. It was a first as these don't normally arrive in the UK till June or July (correction if wrong) & this was March. The Honey Buzzard has returned since. I haven't spotted a pair as such but would be very interesting if this did occur. It's always of interest spotting this type of wildlife whilst out & about Bushcrafting.
Regards
David


very cool T^ while out goose shooting with my boss a while ago we saw a white Canada goose.. something neither of us had seen before. and is was 100% a Canada... we told afew people about it and every man and his dog was out after it for their wall... luckily noone got it that i know of..

[luresalive]

nice pic, I saw a jackdaw with a lot of white on it recently..never seen that before.

[Greenbear]

It is Leucism as mentioned in the thread earlier that creates this effect - the opposite is Melinism (I saw a black pheasant a couple of years back). Hooded crows and Ring Ouzels (Blackbirds with white on them) are dialectic variants and are the result of evolution within areas. Some birds such as Grey Wagtails have different subspecies for each part of the country as well.

Incidentally Ring Ouzels are the origin of the name wurzel in Somerset - be a rare day if you saw a Ring Ouzel there these days, but they are common in parts of Wales :)