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This bird has been frequenting my feeders, always enjoying the peanut butter. Suet and sunflower seeds are also there. I was stumped when I first saw it but now believe it is an albino Downy Woodpecker. Sorry for the poor quality photos. Has anyone seen albino birds?
This bird has been frequenting my feeders, always enjoying the peanut butter. Suet and sunflower seeds are also there. I was stumped when I first saw it but now believe it is an albino Downy Woodpecker. Sorry for the poor quality photos. Has anyone seen albino birds?
You're probably correct. We have a melanistic Downy around here that we only see in winter.
Leucistic sounds like a good possibility. I'll try a camera with a better zoom now that the bird is comfortable here and has even begun eating suet like the other downies do. Then I can get a closeup of the eyes.
Leucistic sounds like a good possibility. I'll try a camera with a better zoom now that the bird is comfortable here and has even begun eating suet like the other downies do. Then I can get a closeup of the eyes.
I think, because your bird does have dark markings on the head that its not an albino.
Albinism is a lack of normal pigment/melanin and there are degrees of it. Leucism is more of a variation in the degree of pigment. A leucistic bird probably has the same or slightly different eye color as a normally-plumaged bird so you might not be able to tell from a photo. An albino would have blue eyes because of the way the tissue absorbs/reflects light. The "red" eyes associated with a total albino appear red because the blood vessels show through tissue that has no pigment.
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We have a melanistic Downy around here that we only see in winter.