Bird and Word of the Day

Phainopepla Male - leucistic

Thanks to Bob Wenrick for the photo and the word of the day. This male Phainopepla (fain [rhymes with pain] Say: fain - oh - PEP - luh) is white and grayer than he 'should' be. He's not the victim of a bad dye job at the salon, but rather has a mutation that prevents pigment from being 'properly' distributed. Leucism is not the same as albinism. Albino animals generally have no pigment expressed, although there are various levels of this mutation as well. I'll ask Bob how to pronounce leucism/ leucistic and get back to you.