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For the third year in a row, I’ve spotted a Slate-colored Junco in my yard with leucistic feathers. Leucism is a loss of skin pigment caused by a genetic mutation. Juncos are supposed to look like this:
In 2008, this little guy showed up in my yard:
And last year I had a junco with a white patch on top of his head scratching on the ground beneath my feeders.
This year’s arrival has white spots on his cheek, chin and head:
I wonder if leucism is becoming more common in juncos, or if my yard just screams “all mutants welcome!”
The latter would explain the neurologically-challenged squirrel that tips over in my yard from time to time…