{"id":9532,"date":"2018-12-16T08:03:14","date_gmt":"2018-12-15T19:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/?p=9532"},"modified":"2018-12-16T08:03:14","modified_gmt":"2018-12-15T19:03:14","slug":"leucistic-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/9532","title":{"rendered":"Leucistic Birds"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Leucistic<\/a>
Leucistic Fantail calling in a territorial display<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Leucistic birds are something most birders or simply observant humans will have seen. Most people are familiar with albinism and may often call leucistic birds albinos. While they are related conditions this is not entirely biologically accurate. Both conditions are the result of a problem with melanin production. Melanin is the brown pigment that we have to provide protection from ultraviolet damage to our DNA and increases in people with pale skin when exposed to sun. Melanocytes within our skin are stimulated to make more melanin which is packaged in melanosomes which travel down the dendrites of the melanocytes and help cover the nuclei of the keratinocytes to shield their DNA from ultraviolet damage. This same pigment is what birds use to create brown\/black plumage colouration so normal melanin metabolism is required for normal brown\/black plumage colours. I have recently been lucky to photograph some leucistic birds so thought this an interesting topic for a blog post.<\/p>\n

\"South<\/a>
South Island Pied Oystercatcher normal colouration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Albinism is the complete lack of melanin production and results in a completely white bird with pale legs and bill and pink eyes. The pink eyes are the result of no melanin in the retina and iris and this compromises vision so in the wild albino birds seldom survive. Leucism is a less complete disturbance of melanin production and may only affect certain feathers or feather tracts so that the bird may have some brown\/black feathers and some white.  It may also result in feathers that are normally dark having a more buff appearance due to incomplete, but not absent, melanin deposition. There are normally two types of melanin. Dark grey eumelanin and a warm buff coloured phaeomelanin. Birds normally produce a mixture of the two so a failure of one or other can lead to variable pale features. Other plumage colours are achieved through other mechanisms with the iridescent blue\/green of birds like kingfishers and starlings being due to light diffraction by the feather structure. Yellow\/orange\/reds are due to carotenoid pigments so that a leucistic bird that has some yellow\/orange\/red would lose the brown\/black colour but retain the bright warm colours. <\/p>\n

\"Leucistic<\/a>
Leucistic South Island Pied Oystercatcher. This bird likely has a disorder of eumelanin production but can deposit some buff phaeomelanin in the areas that are normally black. Interestingly this individual was always on the edge of the flock as though the others didn\u2019t quite recognise it as one of their species. Notice also the tattered wing coverts.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Leucism has some significant risks for the affected bird. They can lose their natural camouflage to be more susceptible to predation. They may not be recognised as a potential mate by their species so lose breeding opportunities. Leucistic birds often show marked signs of plumage wear compared to normally coloured individuals and this adds a physiological load by compromising thermoregulation and flight, potentially increasing energy requirements and thus a stress of increased foraging to avoid negative energy balance.<\/p>\n

\"These<\/a>
These three images shows the marked wear of this leucistic Fantail\u2019s plumage.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"This<\/a>
This level of wear of the primary and secondary flight feathers would have a significant impact on flight resulting in decreased efficiency and performance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"This<\/a>
This bird is much paler than a normally coloured Fantail but has some pale grey and buff so probably has an incomplete loss of eumelanin production\/deposition but retains good amounts of buff phaeomelanin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Melanin is a significant factor in the strength of plumage. Gloger’s rule is an ecogeographical rule that states more heavily pigmented forms of a species tend occur in more humid (lower latitude) environments. An explanation of this is that the increased melanin makes the plumage tougher and more resistance to the increased load of feather degrading bacteria and parasites that flourish in the warmer, more humid environment. This darkening of individuals within a species can be clearly seen in the Pacific Black Duck which in New Zealand is significantly paler (to the point of being known as a Grey Duck<\/a>). It is also obvious in the White-faced Heron which is a deeper darker grey in Queensland than New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\"Leucistic<\/a>
Leucistic Black Swan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In an unrelated but equally interesting sense, humans that evolved in warmer more equatorial environments have darker skin to shield from the increased ultraviolet at those latitudes. As we migrated out of Africa we became paler, not because we didn\u2019t need protection from ultraviolet but because we needed some ultraviolet to enter our skin to synthesise Vitamin D which is crucial to bone health. Lack of Vitamin D provides an evolutionary selective pressure as females growing up deficient are susceptible to pelvic abnormalities that impact on successful childbirth and survival so over time humans in high latitudes became paler. With populations having now spread out all over the world those with northern European heritage and pale skins that have moved to sunnier countries are at significant risk of developing ultraviolet induced skin cancers. New Zealand and Australia have the highest melanoma incidence in the world. I encounter this daily with my work in skin cancer with patients almost exclusively being of European descent. This skin cancer risk however applies little evolutionary pressure as humans successfully breed prior to developing skin cancer so will not become darker over time. The corollary is that dark skinned individuals that have migrated to northern countries are at significant risk of Vitamin D deficiency and often need to take supplements. Interesting non-bird and non-photography (although light related) fact for the day.<\/p>\n

Photos with Nikon D500, D700 (leucistic Black Swan) and Nikon 500mm f4VR lens (leucistic Oystercatcher + TC14EII teleconverter).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leucistic birds are something most birders or simply observant humans will have seen. Most people are familiar with albinism and may often call leucistic birds albinos. While they are related conditions this is not entirely biologically accurate. Both conditions are the result of a problem with melanin production. Melanin is the brown pigment that we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[20,3],"tags":[507,503,26,25,508,504,506,144,218],"class_list":["post-9532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biology","category-birds","tag-albino","tag-biology","tag-bird-photography","tag-birds","tag-leucism","tag-leucistic","tag-melanin","tag-new-zealand","tag-nikon-d500","entry","has-media"],"yoast_head":"\nLeucistic Birds - WildLight Photography<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/9532\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Leucistic Birds - WildLight Photography\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Leucistic birds are something most birders or simply observant humans will have seen. 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Auckland Botanical Gardens Revisted","author":"tony","date":"August 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Birds and Blossoms. A visit to Auckland Botanical Gardens","rel":"","context":"In "birds"","block_context":{"text":"birds","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/birds"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photo showing Silvereye with early Spring blossom.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Silvereye-D85_2570-web.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Silvereye-D85_2570-web.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Silvereye-D85_2570-web.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Silvereye-D85_2570-web.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10069,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/10069","url_meta":{"origin":9532,"position":2},"title":"Waipu roundup","author":"tony","date":"July 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"After showcasing the Bar-tailed Godwits, New Zealand Dotterels and Fairy Terns from Waipu Cove and estuary, I though I would round out this series of posts with some \u00a0images of a few other birds seen on our visit. Variable Oystercatchers as shown in the top image are numerous and vocal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "birds"","block_context":{"text":"birds","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/birds"},"img":{"alt_text":"Variable Oystercatcher","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/VariableOystercatcher-DSC_6669-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/VariableOystercatcher-DSC_6669-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/VariableOystercatcher-DSC_6669-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/VariableOystercatcher-DSC_6669-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18646,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/18646","url_meta":{"origin":9532,"position":3},"title":"A Final Visit to the Longyearbyen Dog Yards","author":"tony","date":"December 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A Final Visit to the Longyearbyen Dog Yards - after disembarking we had another day in Longyearbyen and revisited the birds at the dog yards.","rel":"","context":"In "Arctic"","block_context":{"text":"Arctic","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/arctic"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CommonEiderDuck-20240701-NZ9_9679-NEF-DxO_DeepPRIME-XD2-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CommonEiderDuck-20240701-NZ9_9679-NEF-DxO_DeepPRIME-XD2-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CommonEiderDuck-20240701-NZ9_9679-NEF-DxO_DeepPRIME-XD2-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CommonEiderDuck-20240701-NZ9_9679-NEF-DxO_DeepPRIME-XD2-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14130,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/14130","url_meta":{"origin":9532,"position":4},"title":"White Birds on White","author":"tony","date":"May 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Photographing white Royal Spoonbills in flight on a white background, Napier, New Zealand","rel":"","context":"In "birds"","block_context":{"text":"birds","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/birds"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Spoonbill-D85_5159-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Spoonbill-D85_5159-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Spoonbill-D85_5159-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Spoonbill-D85_5159-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9520,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/9520","url_meta":{"origin":9532,"position":5},"title":"Unseasonable Weather","author":"tony","date":"December 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Those that follow me on Instagram will know that I have recently been down south chasing birds with Edin on another leg of the #birdventurenz. Our main target was Rock Wren as they were one of the final species she needed to photograph for her book and she was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "birds"","block_context":{"text":"birds","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/birds"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Rockwren-DSC_2872-web.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Rockwren-DSC_2872-web.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Rockwren-DSC_2872-web.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Rockwren-DSC_2872-web.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}