Hello from West Devon, UK. How common is this Blackbird? (1 Viewer)

[Tryglo]

First post on the forum, hoping you're a friendly bunch.

This blackbird is has been a garden visitor for over a year now. How common is this kind of mutation?

 

[Mike Crawley]

Welcome to the forum.

Surprisingly, not as uncommon as you might expect.
I had one with a mainly white tail in my garden a couple of years ago.
I've also seen Crow, Rook and Jackdaw with occasional white feathers amongst their regular black feathers.

From the RSPB website - This condition is called partial albinism, and it's usually inherited but can be caused by other factors. Some birds have just one or two white feathers, while others can be white all over or with big white blotches.

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello,
welcome to birdforum! Yes, we are a friendly bunch, you will surely find this out soon.

Regarding your question: I agree with Mike, but some white feathers as a result of pigmentation defect is much rarer in Blackbirds than in Carrion Crow (reason?)
There are some examples here on birdforum:

Aberdeenshire White Tailed Bird

We've had a white tailed bird visiting our feeders for the last couple of weeks. We thought it was Blackbird with a few white tail feathers. Then thought the tail looked like a Magpie. I got a little closer and its actually a brown bird. Any ideas? The bird is sitting in a bush to start with and...

www.birdforum.net

leucistic blackbird

This partial leucistic blackbird is one of the residents in our garden. One clearly notices the weaker structure of the white tertial, due to the lack of melanin. I’ve notice that several partial leucistic blackbrids live in the neighbourhood...

www.birdforum.net

Thanks for sharing another example!

 

[delia todd]

Hi Tryglo and a warm welcome from all the Staff and Moderators.

This is a condition known as leucism, which you can read more about in our Opus Dictionary here: Dictionary G-L - BirdForum Opus

I usually have one in my garden with varying amounts of white feathers, which is quite nice really, as it enables me to identify him.

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.

 

[Kits]

Welcome to Birdforum. I hope you enjoy your visits.

We get leucistic blackbirds in our garden every so often.

 

[KC Foggin]

Hi there Tryglo and a warm welcome to you.
We're glad you found us and please join in wherever you like

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Hi and welcome to BirdForum.

Rich

 

[Chris G6 UXU]

Hello and welcome to the forum, enjoy and all the best.

 

[paddyluke]

here's a few pics i took 3 years ago

 

[delia todd]

here's a few pics i took 3 years ago

Gosh!! Far more white on him than on any I've had. Quite jealous I am!!

 

[KC Foggin]

Leucism is becoming more frequent than my earlier years of birding.

 

[Lisa W]

Hi, welcome to the forum. I think you will find us a friendly and helpful group.

 

[Fritz73]

Hola! Welcome to Birdforum