H.J. Ruiz – Avian101

Look what I found…

Two weeks ago I had the great opportunity to photograph a variety of bird species in my backyard, which most of them are or have been in my backyard previously. As I mentioned on last Monday’s post, I shot many photos… since we had excellent weather conditions favorable for photography.

After going through the photo process ( I shoot RAW mode) I happened to notice a photo of a bird I wasn’t familiar with. I knew it was a sparrow of some kind, I checked and researched and did not find it registered anywhere. However, the body from the neck down was identical to the Chipping Sparrow, and was hanging around with a group of them. I concluded that it was a Leucistic Chipping  Sparrow.

Leucism (/ˈluːsɪzəm, -kɪz-/) is a condition in which there is partial loss of pigmentation in an animal resulting in white, pale, or patchy coloration of the skin, hair, feathers, scales or cuticle, but not the eyes. It is occasionally spelled leukism. Unlike albinism, it is caused by a reduction in multiple types of pigment, not just melanin.

Photo Gallery

American Goldfinch

Field Sparrow

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Pine Warbler

Downy Woodpecker

House Finch

Eating Lunch With…

Red-winged Blackbird

Red-winged Blackbird (M)

© HJ Ruiz – Avian101