Leucistic Dunnock

A leucistic Dunnock. Copyright Beryl Ladd.

Beryl Ladd sent us this image of a dunnock with a white throat, and, curiously, two white toenails on the right claw, one at the front and one at the back. This indicates that the bird is Leucistic. The bird was seen in Devon several times.

Leucism 
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.

A 'normal' dunnock with the usual grey throat.