I'd Rather B Birdin': Leucistism

BUD AND I CELEBRATED OUR 50TH Wedding Anniversary Friday, so I may be delayed in paying you a visit this weekend...

First, I wanted to begin with this unusually colored Gallinule [Moorhen]. I spotted this early one morning and couldn't decipher if it was a rare leucistic. The common coloring is dark, charcoal gray on the adult Common Gallinule as seen in the beginning photo. I also thought maybe it is an immature [teen, or 1st year plumage...nope! Only adults have the red shield!!] Now, if it were albino [which in my opinion, it's not...true albinism would have no pigmentation with the eye color]. With leucism, the feather pigmentation with birds would lack color. But, on the other hand, I asked a fellow birder his opinion and he shared a link with me to show "partial albino". This may be the case, altho I've never heard 'partial albino', until now. In my opinion either it IS albino or not. So, I introduce what I'd say is...

...a leucistic Common Gallinule, only because of its black/brown-red eye color which is normal

COMMON GALLINULE [aka Moorhen]
photos taken: Port Aransas
habitat map: Gallinule

...another rarity I spotted while at Packery Channel Park early one morning was a species of Oriole not usually seen in my area of Texas. For the most these are residents of Old Mexico, but, on a rare occasion will travel to the very southern tip of Texas [Brownsville, about 200 miles from where I found the bird]. At one time, before their name change, they were known as Lichtenstein oriole. Now, Altamira [Altamira, a port city in Old Mexico]

ALTAMIRA ORIOLE
photos taken: North Padre Island
habitat map: Oriole

The last rare bird seen was by invitation from the "Hawk Watch" dude!!! In his yard, he had a visitor to his feeders that is normally not here in our area. Seen only in Old Mexico and the southern border of Arizona and New Mexico. He invited us avid birders to come and hopefully have it show itself. When I got there around 9 a.m. recently, I sat down on one of the patio chairs and waited...not for long tho, it flew into a tree and perched on a branch. Sadly, it was well shaded at its perch and the markings were nearly invisible....except identifiable because of its red, long, beak!!! Then, it came out a bit and I zoomed in. It wasn't long before it left the area, and with the mosquitoes chomping away at my legs and ankles, I left too.....

VIOLET CROWNED HUMMINGBIRD
photos taken: Calallen, Texas
habitat map: Hummingbird

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ANHINGA

Photos taken: Hans Suter Wildlife Refuge - Oso Bay in Corpus Christi, Texas

Habitat Range:

BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER

Photos taken 1] Blucher Park - Corpus Christi and 2] Port Aransas, Texas

Habitat Range:

NORTHERN CARDINAL

Photos Taken: City Parks - Corpus Christi, Texas

Habitat Range:

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Just an update on last week's unidentified bird:
I sent my photo thru email to another birding society, and the response was "Indigo Bunting but afflicted with the absence of melanin" and that I was very lucky to have spotted it. And later responses on the Bird ID forum I utilize had these notations...

"I don't think it's a young Indigo -- that color and patterns don't make sense in that context. I think it's a leucistic adult indigo bunting. The blue color is structural, but it needs a back layer of melanin to absorb the non-blue wavelengths. If a bird were mostly lacking in melanin, this is the sort of thing you'd see."

and

"Indigo Bunting. It may be luesistic [sic] like posted."

I am more inclined to think it's like Ken stated in his comment. But, I did some research...I guess it's possible with a Leucistic conclusion. I'm not agreeing, but I'm certainly not disagreeing either. If I try to change temperature of the image I don't think that's the answer since all the other photos I take with the same camera has the correct coloring of all other birds.]. All in all I learned some valuable info!! A LUESISTIC bird is often found with patches of white, faint color markings,...and/or nearly albino. If interested, read more...

And if you'd like to view several birds that are afflicted with this [I especially was impressed with the white hummingbird!] ...follow this link

I've had an interest in birds long before now. For decades in fact. My first book I bought - before the internet came around for us all - was a small, hardcover, carry-with-you book. "Birds of North America", a Golden Field Guide published in 1966!! I still have it. Within its pages, I have been marking off which ones I've seen in Colorado and in Arizona, long before I began taking pictures to record my sightings...and I continue to mark the ones I've spotted, and where, here in Texas. I also have a 'coffee table' large bound book of "Birds of North America" by Ashley Knight. It's a great book, very large, and some things written in this particular book, I've not read in others. Also, in my binocular case, I have a book on TEXAS BIRDS that ID birds by color. This past week I found another edition of birding in North America - published in 2012 with over 600 birds. It too is quite a nifty find. Especially the price!! I found it at our local "Half Price Books" on the clearance shelf for $1.00!! Brand new and the cover price was $19.99! As stated on the book jacket - it's become quite a complimentary favorite of my other bird guide books! The more info I find and read on a certain bird, the better!! The more I study, the more knowledgeable I can be out in the 'field'. Needless to say, I have 'em, the reference publications, on my desk in the computer room, in the car, and/or on the bookshelves just behind me---

Also, over the last few years, I've begun a new interest in an old fetish...sketching and painting birds I've seen around this part of Texas. I just finished a pencil sketch of an OSPREY --before this one I've painted using the watercolor medium, a BROWN PELICAN and GREAT BLUE HERON. Also, a RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, and an INDIGO BUNTING. Years ago, in Arizona, I painted a the male NORTHERN CARDINAL. Also, a colored pencil sketch of a CARACARA. I'm thinking my next pencil sketch will be another water bird.

...if you wish to view my artwork, the all capital titles are links that will open in a new window.

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§ RARE and Vagrants....

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