Today’s bird is: the Dong Tao chicken
Tag: mutation
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 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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a rare albino black vulture that was spotted in texas. albino birds rarely make it to adulthood, due to being easy targets for predators. since black vultures mainly feed off of carrion, it’s life is likely easier than that of an albino bird that hunts for its food, as it isn’t blatantly visible to its prey.
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this juvenile leucistic wild turkey was spotted in texas. leucistic animals have a lack of pigmentation; their eyesight and feathers are often weaker as a result.
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this pied common grackle was spotted in hudson, new york. the splotches of white result from leucism, a mutation that causes a lack of pigmentation.
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today's bird 