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white shag in Cornwall, England (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter John Knifton
- Start date
Birds with white patches intermingled with some normal plumage are usually described as leucistic. Partial Leucism, or localized hypopigmentation. A genetic mutation that prevents melanin from being deposited normally in the feathers. Typically these abnormal birds tend not to survive for all that long, being much more visible to predators (' it stood out like a sore thumb') and are less likely to attract a mate, consequently, the mutated gene that caused this leucism is less likely to be passed to the next generation
I would have loved to have seen it!
John Knifton
Active member
Thanks a lot for the input. Further research has revealed that there is another race of shag in the Mediterranean called "desmarestii" whose juveniles can be very pale indeed, if not whitish. Does anybody out there have experience of these birds ? Could one have wandered up to Cornwall ?
