the gray junglefowl is a medium-sized gallinaceous bird found in india. though the red junglefowl is often credited as the sole ancestor of domestic chickens, both gray and green junglefowl also played a role. the gray junglefowl provided the gene for yellow legs seen in domestic chickens today. much like chickens, gray junglefowl forage on the ground for seeds, insects, and berries in small flocks.
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a leucistic house crow, native to asia, perches on a ledge. while it was once believed that parent crows kicked white offspring out of the nest, that myth has been found to not be true – while abnormally colored crows may face social rejection, that usually happens once they have left the nest. leucistic crows do face other problems – they are easier targets for predators, and typically have weaker eyesight and feathers.
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a normally colored blue jay feeds a pure white offspring. it’s likely the young bird has leucism, a reduction in pigmentation. birds with abnormal coloration rarely make it to adulthood – many young birds don’t make it to their first year of life anyway, but added pressure from predators and rejection from other birds can affect birds with plumage differences.
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australian magpies are medium-sized passerine birds native to australia. typically black and white, this unusually pale member of the species likely is leucistic. leucistic birds have a lack of pigmentation that can display either as overall paler birds, like this one, or ‘pied’ birds.
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albino and normally colored american crows stand next to each other. albino crows rarely make it to adulthood; they are often ostracized by their peers, more visible to predators, and have weaker eyesight and feathers due to lack of melanin.
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a normally colored double-crested cormorant next to an abnormally colored (leucistic) member of the same species.
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a common raven with leucism. leucism is similar to albinism, but is a partial lack of many pigments, not a complete loss. ravens are known for their black pigmentation; pure white birds like this one suffer from increased visibility to predators, as well as sometimes being rejected socially.
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a pied australian magpie. typically, the birds are solid black and white; this bird’s appearance comes from leucism, a mutation that causes a reduction in pigmentation.
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an evening grosbeak with overly yellow coloration – possibly xanthochromism, which is an overproduction of yellow pigment.
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a leucistic common raven going for a stroll. while usually leucism (a reduction in pigmentation) presents as a few white feathers in ravens and crows, they can also be overall paler like this bird.
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today's bird 