Bird Notes
Bird Notes 1/31/08
Feb 1, 2008

This unusual-looking bird is just a Black-capped Chickadee with leucism. The bird has been visiting the Adirondack home of our nature columnist, Ed Kanze, and was photographed by Larry Master (www.masterimages.org), a noted zoologist. Can you tell how it differs from an ordinary chickadee?

Correspondents occasionally report “albino” birds visiting their feeders. Usually, these birds are not albino, but leucistic.

Ed Kanze, our All Things Natural columnist, sent along the accompanying example of what a bird with leucism may look like.

“A few weeks back I wrote a column about a leucistic chickadee that’s been hanging around our feeder,” Ed said. “Larry Master, a friend up here who is also a photographer extraordinaire and former chief zoologist for The Nature Conservancy, got a great shot of our leucistic bird.”

How does Ed’s chickadee differ from a normal model? The many patches of white in what is supposed to be a black-cap stick out, but notice, too, that the bird’s beak is white instead of black.

Other parts seem pretty normal until you get to its legs. In a typical chickadee, they are gray. In Ed’s bird, they are white or flesh colored.

Leucism can create all kinds of variations in a bird’s coloring — there is probably no other Black-capped Chickadee in North America that looks exactly like this one. When the leucism is partial and spotty like this, it’s said to be “piebald.”

Leucism is caused by defects in the cells that carry pigments — of which there are several kinds. It differs from albinism, which is the absence of only one kind of pigment — melanin — and usually results in an all-white or pale creature.

Both defects can cause very odd-looking birds. For instance, you could have an albino Hairy or Downy Woodpecker that would be all white — except for the red spot atop its head that comes not from melanin, but carotenoids.

Leucistic animals can be all white, too, and an easy way to tell if a creature is an albino is to look at its eyes. Albino eyes are usually pink or red, because the lack of melanin exposes the blood vessels in the back of the eye.  Ed’s chickadee has black eyes, as do normal birds.

Leucism and albinism are inherited conditions, and one reason you won’t see a lot of all-white or mostly white birds with either trait is that they do not survive well in nature. In many cases, a bird’s coloring and patterns are designed to camouflage it. Without that camouflage, they become targets for predators.

What’s more, without its characteristic design, a bird will be less likely to catch the romantic eye of the opposite sex, and less likely to reproduce.

Hungry heron?
“This week we had a Great Blue Heron standing rather forlornly on the ice on our pond, with no possibility of his catching a meal,” writes Raoul Tschebull of Darien. “I wonder why he was there in the first place.  I assume these large birds can find a meal in tidal areas, but it must be hard for them to make it through a winter.”

Great Blue Herons routinely winter here, feeding in open tidal areas. Like the Hooded Mergansers discussed last week, great blues come to the coast from inland ponds, lakes and streams. They can even be found inland if the ponds aren’t frozen.

Perhaps Raoul’s was waiting for the January thaw...

Sharp owl
Dr. Patrick J. Guerin of Timber Mill Lane in Weston has been enjoying a Northern Saw-Whet Owl. The bird hangs out in a tree hole, and can be seen therein watching the passing scene.

The saw-whet has an unusual — and ‘forgotten’ — name. It comes from the resemblance of its call to the sound made when one sharpens a saw with a whetstone. Clearly, it’s an old name for hardly anyone today would bother to sharpen a hand saw, much less use a hand saw. Many people might not even know that “whet” means “to sharpen,” as in “whet the appetite.”

Coming Up
Great Hudson River Excursion, waterfowl, birds of prey, etc., all day, with John Askildsen, Saturday, Feb. 9, 9 a.m., bring lunch, Croton River Landing (beyond Croton station), or carpool from Katonah, register with jebecker@bedfordaudubon.org, 914-232-4806.

Great Backyard Bird Count, counting, hot chocolate, and a talk on submitting data, Saturday, Feb. 16, 1 to 2, Audubon Greenwich, 613 Riversville Road, Greenwich, 203-869-5272 x 221 to register.

Eagle Festival, Feb 16 and 17, Connecticut Audubon, Essex, 860-767-0660, ctaudubon.org.

World of the Red-tailed Hawk, natural history of this raptor, Saturday, February 23, 2:00-3:30 p.m., Audubon Greenwich, 613 Riversville Road, Greenwich, 203-869-5272 x221 to register.

Eagle Viewing Boats Tours, Feb. 9 to March 16, Tuesdays/Thursdays, 10 a.m., Saturdays and Sundays, 9 and 11, Connecticut Audubon Society, 860-767-0660, pwood@ctaudubon.org 

Birding the Bay State, all-day trip to Cape Cod and to Massachusetts Audubon, Wednesday, March 5, $65/$75, Connecticut Audubon, pwood@ctaudubon.org , 860-767-0660.

Hammonasett Hike, looking for spring birds, Saturday, March 8, 8 to 11, free, Connecticut Audubon, pwood@ctaudubon.org , 860-767-0660.

Bird walks with Luke Tiller, Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. $5 each; to register, www.sunrisebirding.com/walks.htm;  203-981-9924, luke.tiller@gmail.com.

First Sundays, birding at Greenwich Point with Meredith Sampson of Wild Wings, and other guides, Feb. 3, March 2, April 6, May 4, 9 a.m., meet at the second concession stand, 203-637-9822.

Bird walks, first and third Saturday at 7:45 a.m., free, meet at Wild Bird Center of Norwalk, 335 Westport Avenue (Route 1), www.wildbird.com/Norwalk, 203-846-BIRD.