White Magpie?

[coleman1495]

The other day I was near McDougal school in Edmonton. We were eating our lunch in the car and I looked up to see what appeared to be an albino magpie. A little online reading indicates that its not really albinism but leucism. Apparently Edmonton is a know hotspot for these white magpies. Supposedly they are a very rare sighting. Anyone else ever seen one of these ghostly magpies or know anything more about them?

 

[SKS Bitten]

Thanks, read up on leucism vs albinism: very interesting.

 

[KePet]

Probably the ghost of the one that the dog caught last weekend.

 

[Longwalker]

It's a cool sighting, but not unique. I have seen birds like that in several species. Always a treat.

 

[coleman1495]

It's a cool sighting, but not unique. I have seen birds like that in several species. Always a treat.

How unusual would you say it is? 1 in 100, 1 in 1000?

 

[reb]

We have had one around our acreage in the GP area for a couple of years

 

[Duncan Idaho]

I have seen them quite a few times since moving to Edmonton, mostly near the UofA and across the river in the Glenora areas.

 

[Eagleye]

When I lived in the Shuswap [1955 - 1963], for a couple of seasons we had an all-white
Bluejay hanging around the barn. It was always in the company of a normal, all-blue
specimen. Dave.

 

[Longwalker]

Without somebody doing a survey there is no way of knowing how many leucistic birds are in a population. I'd guess the incidence is fewer than 1/1000 but that's all it is, a guess.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

It would make a nice mount.

Grizz

 

[mbogo3]

I have seen 2 in Red Deer .

 

[badgreenbird]

I've seen a couple over the years - just northeast of Dawson Creek. Definitely rare, but not unheard of.... would agree that it's < 1/1000