When Is A Blackbird not a Blackbird

Today i spotted this Blackbird with a white feather on the left hand side of its body.

 

When is a Blackbird not a Blackbird… | BTO – British Trust for Ornithology

Across the country, householders have been seeing Blackbirds with strange white markings. The condition, typically referred to as ‘leucism’, is one of a number of plumage abnormalities to have been reported through the BTO Abnormal Plumage Survey, preliminary results from which have just been published.

In less than a month, the survey has clocked up nearly 700 sightings, encompassing more than 35 different species. Three quarters of records have been of leucistic birds and, of these, nearly half have been Blackbirds. Leucistic birds may be confused with albino individuals, but the latter have pink, instead of dark eyes, and only account for 12% of survey records to date.