Monday, March 5, 2012

Tuesday Tweets

leucistic Canada goose Most people do not get overly excited when they see Canada geese but imagine things might be different if you spotted the goose above. Even though it looks quite different it is indeed a Canada goose. This goose is leucistic. Most people are familiar with the term albino but not so familiar with the term leucistic. Albino birds do not produce melanin, which gives birds their color. Albino birds are easily identified by their pink eyes. Leucistic birds produce melanin but it is not deposited normally on the feathers. Both conditions are genetic mutations that are unusual to extremely rare. This goose is leucistic because its body is producing melanin but it is not being deposited properly in some of the feathers that it should.



1 comment:

carol l mckenna said...

You always have the most divine photos ~~thanks for sharing, namaste, carol (A Creative Harbor)
linked with Macro Monday