We’re all white up here! The rarest sparrows in Britain
PERCHED on a branch with their white feathers standing out against the blue sky, these fledglings could be the rarest pair of birds in Britain.
For they are albino sparrows, sightings of which are incredibly uncommon even for one on its own – while it is thought two together have never been seen here before.
The fledglings, whose colour is the result of a genetic mutation, hatched a few weeks ago and were spotted by birdwatcher Clare Kendall.
The 50-year-old, who lives on a houseboat on the Kennet and Avon Canal in Wiltshire, said: ‘I got up early and saw these two birds bathing in the shallow edges of the canal. I couldn’t believe it.
‘At first I thought I hadn’t woken up properly. But now I see them every day. They bathe with their brothers and sisters, who have brown feathers.’
The birds are leucistic, meaning they have a partial loss of pigmentation resulting in white feathers. Fully albino birds also have pink eyes and legs.
Dr Martin Fowlie, of the RSPB, said: ‘I’ve been birdwatching for more than 30 years and I have never seen an albino sparrow. I’ve never heard of two in the same nest before. But it makes sense because it is a genetic mutation.’
But Dr Fowlie warned: ‘Though beautiful, the ghostly birds may not survive long. Because they are white, they are an obvious target for predators.’
Miss Kendall said she and her neighbours are feeding the birds and trying to keep them safe, and hope more white sparrows will be born next year.
A single albino sparrow was spotted in Cornwall in 2010, while another was seen in Norfolk in 2015.