[Bristol-Birds] Albinistic/leucistic Eastern Kingbird (Greene Co., TN)
- From: Don Miller <raincrow@xxxxxxx>
- To: TN-Bird <TN-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Bristol-birds <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Butternuts <butternuts@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 09 Jun 2006 00:12:34 -0400
June 9, 2006
At about 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 8, I observed an
albinistic/leucistic Eastern Kingbird at 1892 Shiloh Road in Tusculum,
Greene County. (The bird has been there for at least several days and
was recently reported by the property owner to Don Holt, who saw it
briefly a couple of days ago and notified me. I hope that Don will post
his observations also.)
I watched the bird for about ten minutes and noted the following:
plumage: white overall with limited dark brownish gray at the bend of
the wing, in the primaries, in the tertials, and in the rectrices;
rectrices: short and spiky, suggestive of tail feathers of Bobolink;
bill: dull pink;
eyes: black
legs: black
voice: typical "electric spark" vocalization of Eastern Kingbird.
I saw the left wing well for several minutes when the bird was perched
but was not able to get much of a look at the right wing. In the brief
view that I got, I formed the impression that the dark coloration on the
wings was symmetrical, or nearly so. The overall jizz of the bird was
typical of Eastern Kingbird except for the short, pointy-feathered
tail. This was far more surprising to me than the white plumage. I
could not determine if the rectrices were damaged or natural. The bird
remained perched for most of the time I viewed it, but it sallied
several times, often vocalizing while in flight.
Thoughts, anyone?
Don Miller
Greeneville, Greene Co., TN
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