Monday, August 23, 2010

Tuesdays' Show & Tail - Leucism is not a Religion

I'm joining in on Tuesday's Show & Tail at Angela's West Virginia's Treasures.  Click on the Peacock to join in or to see other participants.  If you have a cute story and picture of a pet, or any furry (or non-furry) friend, you are welcome to join in! Please check out the rules at her blog, and WELCOME!
Hairy Woodpecker, normal coloration
The photo above is a picture of a Hairy Woodpecker which we often see at our feeders near the house.  I didn't have my camera nearby yesterday when an unusual bird landed on our suet feeder, but I found the image below (taken by a person in Massachusetts), as I searched for a photo of what type of bird we were visited by.  I wanted to have the information to share with you today!
"Albino" Hairy Woodpecker
The condition, called Leucism is a very unusual condition whereby the pigmentation cells in an animal or bird fail to develop properly.  This can result in unusual white patches that appear on the animal, or more rarely, makes the creature completely white.

Look for God in Unusual Things Today!
 

10 comments:

Shirley said...

Very interesting. I never heard of such a thing on a bird!

Angela said...

That's incredible! I haven't ever seen an albino woodpecker before. I'm glad you were able to see one! Thanks for finding out what kind of bird you seen and sharing it with us this week!

Tuesdays' Show & Tail!
Angela

^..^Corgidogmama said...

How very unique! I just don't think about albino animals and such, but of course they're out there!

Rose said...

very unusual situation. thanks. thanks for telling about the relatives in Paris. I think it's asd when we have family yet not have family due to miles apart. will post #2 this week. take care.rose

Jane said...

Unique bird - never seen one like him before!

Jane

Chatty Crone said...

Okay I have never seen this on a bird - I have a person, but not a bird - but why not?

How in the world did you catch his picture?

Woodpeckers always amaze me - their pecking is a mating call - it'd give me a headache.

love,
sandie

Annesphamily said...

Awesome post! I learn something new each day! I love woodpeckers. What a terrific photo! Anne

ocmist said...

I PROMISE... I DID NOT read your post before I made my own post! I was talking about some of the birds we've had around here, and did my post on some of the quail we've seen recently, but I also mentioned that a year or so ago, we'd had an albino quail around here for about a year. It was so neat, but I never was able to get a picture of it. I should have gone ahead and looked one up, too! Your woodpecker was really beautiful, too. The males of so many of the bird species are just gorgeous! I wish the colors would have come out better on the male quail...

Betty said...

That is fascinating. I would imagine that makes him more vulnerable out in the wild since he kind of stands out.

Jules said...

Way too cool! We have some woodpeckers around us from time to time and they can drive you up a wall when you are trying to sleep! LOL