I had one all winter! He left sometime in February. On Fri, Apr 16, 2021, 9:14 PM Kevin J. McGowan <k...@cornell.edu> wrote:
> I was in a Zoom meeting this morning in my “office” at my kitchen table, > facing out on a beautiful view of Yellow Barn State Forest and my bird > feeders. A blazingly white bird popped up at my feeders and instantly drew > my attention. I dug out my camera from the backpack on the chair next to > where I sit all day (every day) and tried to get some photos. > > Fortunately, I make a living thinking about, teaching about, and > photographing birds, so my meeting mates didn’t think I was doing anything > particularly weird, albeit unexpected. (Two different meetings interrupted > by me grabbing my camera and diving off screen.) > > It turned out to be a Black-capped Chickadee with major pigment problems. > Not quite a real albino, but nearly completely white with light brown cap > and bib. It had some melanin and dark eyes, so not a “real” albino, but > close enough for government work. (This is a very complex issue, and there > are many physiological ways to reach the same appearance, so I’m not going > to try to call this definitively albino, leucistic, diluted plumage, > progressive graying, or other attempts at claiming the underlying causes.) > > The first photos were horrible, but it eventually came back and I got some > passable one, included in my eBird checklist: > https://ebird.org/atlasny/checklist/S85659031 > > Cool bird. I wonder how long it will stick around. > > Kevin > > > -- > *Cayugabirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive > <http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> > BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> > *Please submit your observations to eBird > <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>!* > -- > -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
