Subject: Re: Returning albinos was, Re: Albino Eared Grebe
Date: Nov 17 17:29:57 1995
From: JLRosso at aol.com - JLRosso at aol.com


Alvaro Jaramillo wrote

Several days ago I saw a partial albino
male Red-winged Blackbird showing white on the throat, part of the face and
upperbreast. However, the white was strongly tinted pink. Dennis (remember
him?) had mentioned that this was the norm in albino Red-wings, they usually
show a pink wash to the throat and breast. The implication here is that all
Red-wings have red pigments that are masked by the black of the underparts
which only become visible when these dark pigments are not present. Traits
that are not visibly expressed like these are ones that can really stump
people when they do get expressed through some unusual situation like
hybridization.

Is this the same explanation for the group of Heerman's Gulls usually seen
south of Monterey who all show a rather large white wing patch? I have never
heard a good explanation of what causes that. When I lived in California I
saw these birds often.


Jim Rosso
Issaquah
206-392-8440