Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-22
13:49:31|Editor: Chengcheng
SYDNEY, July 22 (Xinhua) -- A
rare white magpie has been spotted in South Australia's state capital Adelaide,
fueling interest among animal biologists and the community about new insights
into the popular birds' characteristics.
The male magpie, found in the
city's northern parklands, is not an albino but is instead leucistic, or having
a genetic variation in its cells responsible for making black pigment, local
media quoted University of South Australia biology professor Chris Daniels as
saying on Sunday.
The bird's beak can still be
black and its eyes the normal brown color, but the body "can be completely
white, or can be a mixture of grey and white or can have odd white patches
across it," Daniels told the ABC news channel. An animal with albinism
usually sports distinctive pink eyes.
Daniels said the rare magpie will
offer unique opportunities to study color and color variation in animal
behavior.
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