Not as Black as Some

The concept of leucism among birds and animals was a new one to me until a few months ago when I saw a bird hopping around the bushes at the hospital that I didn't recognise: it was thrush- or blackbird-sized, and white, with a few golden-brown feathers. I couldn't find it in my admittedly small bird books, but eventually discovered that it was probably leucistic, exhibiting a condition in which a beast loses some of its normal colouring. It's different from albinism in which the whole body lacks pigment, including the eyes, which in albino creatures are pink.

A leucistic blackbird visits my garden at the moment, and here he is. He only has a small white patch on his shoulder, but that's enough to pick him out very easily. Although he's a bit of an oddity, he has a mate as I've seen them hopping about together. He's usually about as I say my prayers in the morning. Now last night I neglected to fill the birdbath, and in the current hot weather a bath which is full in the morning has completely dried out by the evening, and so the Not-Quite-Blackbird came to investigate it today and found no water. I decided there were some prayers I could say while carrying a bucket of water, and filled the bath as well as watering the herbs. The blackbird very quickly noticed the change, and came to drink and bathe. I look forward to seeing him about, though I'm not sure how long blackbirds live and how long he will be around.