White 'Leucistic' Buzzard Seen In Austria

Courtesy of Victoria Hillman
March 2008. One of our readers, Victoria Hillman, has sent us the following three photos of a very unusual white 'Leucistic' buzzard that she has seen regularly around a ski resort in Austria.

The bird has been positively identified as a buzzard, and it has been seen regularly in the company of other buzzards. We believe from the photos that the bird is Leucistic rather than and albino.

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.

Albinism is a different condition. The easiest way to tell the difference between the two is that in albinism the eyes are usually pink or red, and albinism affects the entire animal, not just patches.

This occassionaly causes very excited biologists to think they have discovered a new species, when in fact leucism is the cause of the unusual markings they have seen.

Other Leucistic Birds
In 2007 we received reports and photos of no less than 4 leucistic moorhens in different places in the UK, and just a few weeks ago we published stories of a white stag in Scotland.