• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Hello From New Jersey (1 Viewer)

D

djlen

New member
Just wanted to say hello.
Actually my wife is the bigger bird enthusiast in the family, but I wanted to ask a question that neither of us know the answer to.

We have many species of birds come to our feeders and bath every year, but this spring we have seen something that we have never seen or heard of and I'm wondering if it's a rarity or is it common and we've just been living in a cave all these years:).
We have a regular visit from a white robin. This bird is entirely white with a red breast. Everything about the bird is the same as any other robin except the coloring.
We are really anxious to know how common a white robin is. Any feedback on this would be appreciated.

Len
 
Hi Len,

A warm welcome to BirdForum from all the Moderators and Admin.

Sounds like you have a what is called a leucistic bird. They are quite common. Here in England I have a leucistic Blackbird which visits my garden.
 
Hi Len and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum.

Is your robin completely white or patches of white. Any way you can post a pic of it?
 
No, I don't have a digital camera so posting a picture is not possible at this time.
The bird is pure white except for the breast.
As I mentioned above, he/she looks exactly like your garden variety robin with the exception of the plummage difference.
Is there a place on line where I can view a picture of a white robin?

Len
 
Hi, Len! Another welcome to you from BirdForum!

You might want to do a google search for "leucistic American Robin photo" and see what turns up. I'm not sure how many leucistic birds we have in our Gallery -- I know there are some, but whether they're American Robin, I haven't checked.

For two years running, I had a leucistic Pinyon Jay come into the yard with "his" flock of normal-looking jays. Very interesting looking bird, although his white feathers were in evenly spaced patches all over.

Leucism, BTW, is lighter-than-normal pigmentation of the feathers, as opposed to albinism, which is a lack of pigment in the skin and other soft tissues (resulting in the commonly seen pink eye). Melanism is darker-than-normal coloring of the feathers.
 
Hi Len,

From all the BirdForum Moderators and Administration, Welcome!

We are glad to have you join us in our appreciation of nature, especially wild birds.

 
Welcome, Len. I am also more into birding than my husband. So nice that you take an interest. We live in NJ as well. What part of the state are you in? Unfortunately we've had to take down all our seed feeders since some rather undesireable rodents showed up to feast at the spillage. Happily, I've been able to keep suet out, as not much drops. Though my favorite activity is a good birding walk in woods or field, it's lovely to be able to watch the feathered visiters from the kitchen window, over coffee.

Shalom,
Earthinsong
 
Warning! This thread is more than 19 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

A
Greetings from New Jersey
Replies
9
Views
415
AllThatBirds
A
TeamLeip
Birds of the World
Replies
5
Views
470
KC Foggin
KC Foggin
K
Saying Hello :-)
Replies
6
Views
487
Fritz73
Fritz73
J
Hello
Replies
6
Views
362
Fritz73
Fritz73
E
Greetings from (currently) cloudy Warwickshire!
Replies
10
Views
185
ewephoria
E

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top