Interesting chickadee

[Nova]

We have a nesting pair of Carolina Chickadees in the bird house next to our porch. There have been a pair nesting for the last 3 years but this year the male has a white tail. He is pretty flashy no wonder she likes him. I will get better pictures tomorrow morning.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Nice! We get a lot of Black-Capped Chickadees here. Looked like a pair was going to build a nest in a birdhouse I have by my pond last year, but suddenly a pair of wrens moved in instead.

 

[j.w]

Cute little birdy Nova and it has a strikingly white tail. Neat you got that photo.
I tried to look up white tailed chickadee and came up w/this: http://thomasburg-walks.blogspot.com/2006/03/white-tailed-chickadee.html
I'm gonna keep a lookout here and see if I see any white tailed birds.

 

[j.w]

Found this also: http://birding.about.com/od/identifyingbirds/a/leucism.htm

From an Illinois bird forum:
Depending on your preferred authority, this is either partial albinism, incomplete albinism, or leucism -- which means we're likely to have another discussion as to the meaning of those terms. In any case, the immediate cause was the bird's inability to lay down melanin in those feathers as they were growing -- but there's several different ways in which that can happen, which is where much of the confusion comes in.

 

[Nova]

I believe it is leucism. He has been a stinker today by not letting me get a good photo of him. He would hang around the nest singing while the female built the nest. Today he is quieter and not around as often the female may be starting to lay eggs. I was thinking, just like a man, sitting around while the woman does all the work. But, then I thought, it's better to have the female do it so it gets done right.

 

[j.w]

Ha ha ha that makes perfect sense to me

 

[Nova]

Okay, here are better pics of the little guy.

 

[j.w]

Wonder if the babies will have white tails? I guess the more white the more trouble surviving. Seems like a white tail would not matter too much tho.

 

[HARO]

We've had partial albino (or whatever) robins in our area for at least five years now. They return every spring to a lot about the distance of a city block south of us to nest. The first one I noticed was a light tan colour, with an almost pink breast. The following year there were several with varying amounts of white, but otherwise normal. There are different ones every year, so I imagine the young return from the sunny south to the same area every year.
John