Thursday, July 31, 2008

Leucistic Carolina Wren

Today we caught this beautiful leucistic hatch year Carolina wren:



For comparison, this is what a normally pigmented adult looks like:


FYI, for those of you not familiar with the term leucism or leucistic, it simply refers to a reduction in pigmentation, whereas albinism is the absence of melanin. It's not uncommon, and I believe Eagle Eyes and I even spotted a leucistic robin at Foggy Bottom, but never caught it in a net.

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