Leucistic junco in Virginia

Courtesy of M. Sledjeski.

Here's a photo of a leucistic dark-eyed junco (an individual of the slate-coloured population ), Junco hyenalis. It was taken in February 2010, by my nephew, at his home in Plains, Virginia, USA. 

Leucism (or Leukism) 
Leucism is a very unusual condition whereby the pigmentation cells in an animal or bird fail to develop properly. This can result in unusual white patches appearing on the animal, or, more rarely, completely white creatures.

Click here to see our gallery of albino and leucistic animals and birds.