Adelie penguin with unusual colouration.
April 2013. Elaine Heron took these images of an
apparently leucistic penguin on the Antarctic Peninsula
that she saw in February this year. This is not the first leucistic Adelie
penguin that we have had reported to us. We also have an image of a bird
that was seen and photographed in
1963 on Avian Island, off Adelaide
Island on the Antarctic
Peninsula in 1963, near the British Antarctic Survey Base by
reader Mike Fleet.
Leucism (or Leukism)
Leucism is a very unusual condition whereby the pigmentation cells in an animal or bird fail to develop properly. This can result in unusual white patches appearing on the animal, faded colouring, or, more rarely, completely white creatures.
Leucism is a very unusual condition whereby the pigmentation cells in an animal or bird fail to develop properly. This can result in unusual white patches appearing on the animal, faded colouring, or, more rarely, completely white creatures.
Albinism is a different condition. The easiest way to
tell the difference between the two is that in albinism the eyes are usually
pink or red, and albinism affects the entire animal, not just
patches.
Click here to see our gallery of albino and
leucistic animals and birds.
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