I have a confession to make. Geology was not my first love: birds were. I spent one summer in college watching cattle egrets. That research project helped me get into ornithology, & I've kept "birding" as a hobby ever since. Even these days, I don't usually manage to get through a geology field trip without pointing and shouting "Look! There goes a pileated woodpecker!" (or a Cooper's hawk, etc.) Birds are everywhere, and they're great.
Accordingly, I was pleased to get these photos Friday from my colleague, NOVA biologist Bill Gorham.

This is a female cardinal (Richmondenis cardinalis). She has a unique look: her head is white! Bill calls her Ms. Whitey.

He tells me that the bird "has been a visitor in my yard for over a year. Last winter she just had a white 'collar' around her neck, then during the summer her whole head gradually whitened."
Bill continues: "I understand the term 'leucistic' applies because it is certainly not albinism but a loss of all pigments in certain areas... I would have to guess that the progressiveness has something to do with maturity. She mated and had chicks this past summer but I think she was a youngster last winter. She is also a member of a local tribe of cardinals that get bald every summer in July and August. First it was just one male (who we called 'Baldy') but now there are several males and several females. I don't think it is mites; I think it is some kind of heat response. When they molt in the fall they get a full head of feathers again."

A few points to be made here: (1) I like sharing images of natural oddities, which is why I'm posting these images [with Bill's permission] here; (2) I like having colleagues who share images of natural oddities [I like the fact I'm part of a community of people at NOVA who are curious about the natural world] and (3) I want to know what the heck is going on with this bird: I think it's weird that it's progressive whitening like Bill describes. I mean, I can see a certain region of the cardinal embryo mutating a gene (which subsequently gets copied & copied) leading to albinism in certain portions of the body (which then remain constant over the bird's life), but I find it truly odd that the area lacking pigment has increased over time. That's remarkable! If anyone has any insights into this "rare bird," let's hear it...

Labels: birdies, evolution, nova