By Jasper Hamill, The Sun
(Credit: Caters News Agency)
An incredibly rare ghostly white
"Ino" owl has been spotted in the UK.
The beautiful pure white owl was
photographed at a secret location, on private land just outside of Durham City
Center.
It is a British species called a
Little Owl which has been turned white due to a rare genetic condition known as
Ino, which makes it look a bit like an albino.
Photographer Hilary Chambers, a
member of the Durham Bird Club, took the extraordinary pictures but was asked
to keep the location a secret in a bid to protect the rare bird.
The 68-year-old originally
thought it was an Albino owl or a Leucistic owl but presented her incredible
shots to Hein van Grouw, bird curator at The National History Museum, who later
confirmed it was actually an Ino bird.
"You learn something every
day," Chambers said.
"I am a keen birdwatcher and
photographer and have been doing this for about 15 years now.
"I have had some great
encounters over the years and you just never know what you are going to see
next."
Albinism is a congenital disorder
characterised by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the feathers and
Leucism is a condition in which there is partial loss of pigmentation in an
animal resulting in white, pale, or patchy coloration of the feathers but not
the eyes.
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