White Birds - photos and discussion

General birdwatching discussion, help with bird identification, and all other things relating to wild birds and birding in NZ that don't fit in one of the other forums.
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Michael
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Re: Leucistic Birds - photos and discussion

Postby Michael » Mon Aug 10, 2015 5:08 pm

More than you'd think. They are actually quite common, selling at about $20.
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Neil Fitzgerald
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Re: Leucistic Birds - photos and discussion

Postby Neil Fitzgerald » Mon Aug 10, 2015 5:24 pm

Interesting. Note though that "Progressive greying may or may not be heritable; some forms may be related solely to age while in others the progressive loss of pigment cells may be due to disorders such as vitiligo", so it could be what breeders are selecting for.
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Michael
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Re: Leucistic Birds - photos and discussion

Postby Michael » Mon Aug 10, 2015 6:01 pm

Could be.
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Mandyjane
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Re: Leucistic Birds - photos and discussion

Postby Mandyjane » Mon Aug 10, 2015 8:02 pm

I just looked on Trade me - 1 goldfinch for $25, 1 chaffinch for $10 and a free house sparrow - amoungst the normal sort of birds you would expect. No blackbirds tho.
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Michael
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Re: Leucistic Birds - photos and discussion

Postby Michael » Tue Aug 11, 2015 4:04 pm

Goldfinches you'd expect. They are actually really common in NZ enclosures. Chaffinches less so. And sparrows aren't too popular. Redpolls and Greenfinches are common though. They use all of those species to create "mules" (hybrid with canary). The Yellowhammer is lss often seen, but much cheaper than in Oz, where they can cost up too $2500 a pair!!
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SomesBirder
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Re: Leucistic Birds - photos and discussion

Postby SomesBirder » Tue Aug 11, 2015 7:43 pm

Mandyjane wrote:I just looked on Trade me - 1 goldfinch for $25, 1 chaffinch for $10 and a free house sparrow - amoungst the normal sort of birds you would expect. No blackbirds tho.

Goldfinches aren't unusual in aviculture. I even saw some at an Animates once.
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Neil Fitzgerald
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Re: Leucistic Birds - photos and discussion

Postby Neil Fitzgerald » Wed Sep 16, 2015 9:42 pm

This interesting photo was sent to me (thanks foxbirds). I believe it is a very white tui. I'm pretty sure I'm seeing throat tufts.

IMG_3011.JPG
IMG_3011.JPG (186.05 KiB) Viewed 4327 times
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George Hobson
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Re: Leucistic Birds - photos and discussion

Postby George Hobson » Thu Sep 17, 2015 8:32 am

Neil Fitzgerald wrote:This interesting photo was sent to me (thanks foxbirds). I believe it is a very white tui. I'm pretty sure I'm seeing throat tufts.

I can see throat tufts also Neil.
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Davidthomas
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Re: Leucistic Birds - photos and discussion

Postby Davidthomas » Thu Sep 17, 2015 1:40 pm

Kind of looks like the leaves off the branch behind, but almost certainly a tui based on shape etc.
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Amber Calman
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Re: Leucistic Birds - photos and discussion

Postby Amber Calman » Thu Sep 17, 2015 1:51 pm

I think tufts
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