Leucistic Male Paradise Shelduck
Near the Tiritiri Matangi gift shop was a leucistic male Paradise Shelduck, whose head looked more like a female of the species. Leucism is caused in birds when their feathers do not have the proper level of the pigment melanin, which is what makes feathers black. Such colour abnormalities are usually of interest only to birders, Sometimes, the condition can exist in all the bird's feathers. Leucism is not the same as albinism.
Leucistic Male Paradise Shelduck
Near the Tiritiri Matangi gift shop was a leucistic male Paradise Shelduck, whose head looked more like a female of the species. Leucism is caused in birds when their feathers do not have the proper level of the pigment melanin, which is what makes feathers black. Such colour abnormalities are usually of interest only to birders, Sometimes, the condition can exist in all the bird's feathers. Leucism is not the same as albinism.