Partially Leucistic Red-breasted Nuthatch

Today's photo was taken two days ago, on 26 October 2015. I had timed my arrival at the park to coincide with the arrival back at the parking lot of various friends who had just been on a 3-hour walk. There was one particular bird I wanted to ask about, to know if they had managed to find it - and, no, they hadn't seen it. However, they had seen a Great Horned Owl not too far from the parking lot and friend Sandy very kindly said she would come back with me and show me the location. When the two of us got back to the cars, another friend was just arriving, I told her about the Great Horned Owl and offered to show her where it was, if I could find it again. Well, hardly surprising with my sense of direction and inability to find something again, we were out of luck. Sorry, Ursula, but at least you now knew the small area where it was perched (or had been perched - it could always have flown!). We continued to look for a bird we had hoped to find, but no luck, just like everyone else. We did find this leucistic Red-breasted Nuthatch, though, and that was a nice sighting.

"Many birders enjoy lifelong hobbies relying birds’ plumage alone to distinguish the hundreds of different species on their life lists, but not all birds have predictable plumage and conditions such as bird leucism can make identification more of a challenge.

Leucism is an abnormal plumage condition caused by a genetic mutation that prevents pigment, particularly melanin, from being properly deposited on a bird’s feathers. As a result, the birds do not have the normal, classic plumage colors listed in field guides, and instead the plumage have several color changes, including white patches where the bird should not have any; paler overall plumage that looks faint, diluted or bleached; or overall white plumage with little or no color discernable.

The degree of leucism, including the brightness of the white and the extent of pigment loss, will vary depending on the bird’s genetic makeup. Birds that show only white patches or sections of leucistic feathers – often in symmetrical patterns – are often called pied or piebald birds, while birds with fully white plumage are referred to as leucistic birds." From birding.about.com.

birding.about.com/od/identifyingbirds/a/leucism.htm

"An intense bundle of energy at your feeder, Red-breasted Nuthatches are tiny, active birds of north woods and western mountains. These long-billed, short-tailed songbirds travel through tree canopies with chickadees, kinglets, and woodpeckers but stick to tree trunks and branches, where they search bark furrows for hidden insects. Their excitable yank-yank calls sound like tiny tin horns being honked in the treetops." From AllABoutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-breasted_Nuthatch/id

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-breasted_nuthatch