Saturday I shot a leucistic RWBL. It took awhile to narrow it down to that even though I thought so at the time. I only remember seeing one other leucistic bird many many years ago. It got me to wondering. How often does everyone else run into this? I would think avid experienced birders would see it more than I have but I am curious.
Thanks John. I looked for some stats myself but I'm sure you'll have much better luck at it. Interested to see how forum members stack up on it if anyone cares to divulge.
Partial leucism is actually quite common in birds, where you see one or two feathers white.
Some birds show more than others and occasionally you see all white birds.
Here's a partially leucistic red-tailed hawk from here in San Antonio this winter.
I have been lucky to see a good number of leucistic birds. It seems to be very broad based phenomena. In this past year I have seen a Canada Goose, a Black-capped Chickadee, an American Crow and a Common Redpoll with various amounts of white, all locally. The species I have seen the most often with leucism is Common Grackle.
I see a white feather or two fairly often. I'm talking about a bird that is heavily washed out. That I rarely see. I realize that I didn't make that clear.