White and brown tui

[Hendo]

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Hi there, I’ve just joined this forum as I would like to find out more information about a couple of tuis that have been living around our property on the west coast of Auckland. One is quite white in appearance, and seems to be a female. Whilst another one is very brown, and probably a male. Has anyone had any experience with this before? Cheers

[chris]

The brown one will be a jack(fledgling)

[Hendo]

I’m pretty sure it’s an adult, as has been around since before last summer. I’ve tried loading on some photos but am struggling

[Ian Southey]

We've heard of this kind of thing before but its pretty unusual and interesting. There's a couple of examples on this thread viewtopic.php?f=3&t=247&hilit=white+birds and there may be others with better pictures scattered around. Looking forward to seeing your pictures when you get sorted out. I've not seen one myself.

Ian

[Hendo]

I’ve finally figured out the attachments..
I’m wondering whether they would produce the same colour offspring??
Dugald

[sm1979]

What beautiful birds!!!
I hope they do produce some similar offspring!

[Neil Fitzgerald]

I think there is a reasonable chance it could be passed on. There were two together west of Hamilton some years ago and others have been seen in and around Hamilton more recently, more than a tui lifespan later. I also saw one a couple of times in Pironga village over the summer.
The gene for the brown mutation is on the sex chromosome, so most birds with this condition are female, and indeed, all tui I have seen like this have been female.
Brown is the second most common colour aberration in birds (after progressive greying).
https://www.neilfitzgeraldphoto.co.nz/g ... ndiae_4762

[Hendo]

Hey, appreciate your replies thank you , much appreciated.
The bird life around the Muriwai area is flourishing again, with all of the local community doing a great job on the trapping etc! After the cyclone quite a few people noticed the lack of bide life and song for a few months, not sure why, but is strong again thankfully.