Leucistic swans in Hampshire

Leucistic cygnets. Copyright Peter Madge

One of ourreaders has sent us the following image of a group of cygnets, some white some grey. Plenty of easy gags to be made here about white swans, but:- 

Apparently there is a reasonably common gene of leucism in Mute swans, especially in North America & Poland (White cygnets are sometimes known as 'Polish' phase), that often appears in some cygnets of a brood. There are reports that leucistic chicks occasionally get attacked by their own parents.

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 more about leucism and our gallery of colour oddities.