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 03/27/2005 10:58:57 PM · #1

I took a photo of this bird today and he's got me a bit confused. He's shaped exactly like a chickadee and has the same color on his breast, but his face is white and his legs are pink instead of black.



Albino chickadee? Never heard of it before but that's my best guess. Any bird experts out there care to help? Is this mutation semi-normal?

Here's a normal looking one:

03/27/2005 11:02:15 PM · #2
You're right, it certainly looks like it is a black-capped, but what's with that coloring? Definitely something genetic goin' on, but not albinism. He's have no coloration at all then.
03/27/2005 11:03:43 PM · #3
I hope the other chickadees aren't teasing him. He seems a pleasant enough chap.
 03/27/2005 11:04:51 PM · #4
It always helps if you let us know where this was shot.
 03/27/2005 11:07:21 PM · #5
New Jersey. My mother and I used to band birds for the state when I was a kid, and in all my years of doing that and feeding birds at my house I've not once come across a chickadee like this.

Now that I've given my location, I'm sure I've opened up myself to all the NJ nuclear waste jokes to help explain his mutation.
 03/27/2005 11:20:01 PM · #6
I would say color variation or something like that, but I've never seen a chickadee with pink feet.
03/27/2005 11:29:29 PM · #7
I just sent it out to the local Audubon Board. I'll let you know if they have an ID.
 03/27/2005 11:35:45 PM · #8
It's probably a penguin.
 03/27/2005 11:37:03 PM · #9
Originally posted by xtabintun:
It's probably a penguin.


I think you're onto something, perhaps a hybrid... would that be a Penguidee or a chickquin?
 03/27/2005 11:39:59 PM · #10
Originally posted by rscorp:
Now that I've given my location, I'm sure I've opened up myself to all the NJ nuclear waste jokes to help explain his mutation.

Far more likely to be due to chemical contamination ... TMI was in Pennsylvania wasn't it?
 03/27/2005 11:40:54 PM · #11
Looks like a Leucistic Black Capped Chickadee, a partial albino variant. They are also known in full albino, with no "cap" at all.

Robt.
 03/27/2005 11:41:24 PM · #12
Its a wonderful shot of a partial albino chickadee. Many albinos are not total, this bird is only slightly carrying the gene. I've seen a blue-winged teal with totally white wings, a common grackle with a white head, and a crow with a white tail. Probably more common than total abinoism. I've had a bright yellow house finch at my feeder for several weeks now, normally from orange to deep reds. Van


03/28/2005 03:40:10 AM · #13
Originally posted by kirbic:
Originally posted by xtabintun:
It's probably a penguin.

I think you're onto something, perhaps a hybrid... would that be a Penguidee or a chickquin?

European or Asian Chickquin?
 03/28/2005 04:54:36 AM · #14
What's the air speed velocity of a European Chickquin?
 03/28/2005 05:18:25 AM · #15
Originally posted by TG73:
What's the air speed velocity of a European Chickquin?


Western European or Eastern?
 03/28/2005 06:31:37 AM · #16
Leucistic birds aren't all that hard to find when you look for them. I saw a leucistic crow at the airport about 6 to 8 weeks back.
 03/28/2005 07:34:06 AM · #17
Leucistic this, leucistic that. I am more in favor of the Penguidee / Chiquin theory. At least I would have been able to sell the print to Audubon for some sweet bank. Now all I have is a shot of an imperfect but common chickadee.

You all were supposed to come up with answers that would have bought me a new lens!
 03/28/2005 07:57:49 AM · #18
Sell the shot to a stock agency. Maybe a lens, someday. :)
 03/28/2005 10:32:45 AM · #19
Originally posted by rscorp:
Leucistic this, leucistic that. I am more in favor of the Penguidee / Chiquin theory. At least I would have been able to sell the print to Audubon for some sweet bank. Now all I have is a shot of an imperfect but common chickadee.

You all were supposed to come up with answers that would have bought me a new lens!


Actually, the odd part about the picture is how he appears to be covered in hair, not feathers. Title it "The Furry Chickadee" and make a broadway play out of it...

Robt.

(I refuse to explain the pun to anyone who doesn't get it so don't ask)
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