What is this strange bird in Lincolnshire?
QCan you identify this bird seen in North Lincolnshire? Andy C
AIt’s a partially leucistic (or schizochroal) Blackbird, ie having a condition in which a bird has a loss of pigmentation to its feathers. Some, then, appear wholly white, while others can be pied, like this bird (which could conceivably have had one leucistic and one normal parent). Such birds are generally thought to be more vulnerable to predators, on account of being more visible (they’re sometimes shunned by others of their species, too, so lose the safety of numbers), but there are locations at which whole dynasties of schizochroal birds have developed. Let’s hope your bird is one of the lucky ones.