leucism – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

I’m Still Looking For This Leucistic American Coot

By Mia McPherson|January 26th, 2024|Categories: American Coots, Birds, Rarities, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Coot, coot, coots, Fulica americana, funky water color, leucism, leucistic, park, plumage aberration, pond, rare, reflections, spring, unique, unusual, urban, water|

I remember feeling very thrilled when I found this leucistic American Coot on January 2, 2023. I'd been hoping to find a leucistic coot for quite a long time.

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My Leucistic Song Sparrow Sighting

By Mia McPherson|October 15th, 2023|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Leucistic, Song Sparrows, Utah|Tags: aberrant plumage, adult, autumn, fall, leucism, leucistic, marsh, Melospiza melodia, morning, normal, perched, phragmites, phrags, pigment issues, plumage, plumage issue, Song Sparrow, sparrow, sparrows, Utah, wetlands|

My second gobsmack in a week occurred when I spotted a stunning leucistic Song Sparrow while driving slowly along the road at Farmington Bay WMA two days ago.

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Leucistic American Coot Photos

By Mia McPherson|April 13th, 2023|Categories: American Coots, Birds, Great-tailed Grackles, Leucistic, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Coot, back view, coot, coots, dirt, face, foraging, Fulica americana, grackle, grackles, grass, Great-tailed Grackle, leucism, leucistic, male, morning, plumage aberration, preening, profile view, Quiscalus mexicanus, Salt Lake County, spring, staring, swimming, tail, tree trunk, urban, Utah, water|

Over the past four months I wanted closer, better photos of the leucistic American Coot that I found on January 2nd. My patience and persistence paid off.

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Gadwall Drake Resting In Snow

By Mia McPherson|January 4th, 2023|Categories: American Coots, Birds, Leucistic, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Coot, coot, coots, dabbling ducks, drake, duck, ducks, foraging, Fulica americana, Gadwall, gadwalls, leucism, leucistic, male, Mareca strepera, plumage aberration, pond, resting, snow, tree, trunk, urban, water, winter|

This morning I'm sharing photos of a Gadwall drake resting in snow plus a bonus photo of the leucistic American Coot taken yesterday in afternoon light.

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Leucistic American Coot In Salt Lake County

By Mia McPherson|January 3rd, 2023|Categories: American Coots, Birds, Leucistic, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Coot, cloudy, coot, coots, Fulica americana, leucism, leucistic, low light, plumage aberration, pond, urban, water, winter|

After shoveling more snow I wanted to go to my local pond to see what was there. My jaw dropped when I found a foraging leucistic American Coot.

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Leucistic Canada Goose

By Mia McPherson|January 26th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Canada Geese, Leucistic, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, Branta canadensis, Canada Geese, Canada Goose, geese, goose, head, leucism, leucistic, odd plumage, partial leucism, Partially leucistic, plumage variation, pond, water, waterfowl, white head, white-headed, winter|

I didn't see any American Robins feeding on crabapples yesterday but I did find a leucistic Canada Goose at my local pond.

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Adult American Robin Gobbling Down A Crabapple – Thanksgiving 2020

By Mia McPherson|November 26th, 2020|Categories: American Robins, Birds, Leucistic, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Robin, crabapple, crabapples, eating, food, gobble, gobbling, leucism, leucistic, open bill, robin, robins, snow, thrush, thrushes, tree, tree trunk, Turdus migratorius, white tail feather, winter|

You might wonder why I decided to use an American Robin photo on my Thanksgiving post today and I will explain how I picked this image.

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Looking Back On Photographing A Rare Leucistic Red-tailed Hawk

By Mia McPherson|November 16th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Leucistic, Rarities, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: adult, back lit, birds, birds of prey, Buteo jamaicensis, flight, flying, hawks, Hawks of Utah, leucism, leucistic, lift off, lifting off, perched, power pole, rare, Red-tailed Hawk, take off, taking off, tree|

Even though it is now four years later I still look for this striking leucistic Red-tailed Hawk in Tooele County and hope to find and photograph it again one day.

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Second Winter Bald Eagle With Leucism On Its Forehead, Crown And Throat

By Mia McPherson|February 2nd, 2020|Categories: Bald Eagles, Birds, Leucistic, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: Bald Eagle, branch, crown, eagle, eagles, forehead, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, immature, leucism, leucistic, mountains, perched, pigment issues, resting, second winter, snag, snow, sub-adult, throat, tree, Wasatch Mountains, winter, young|

Yesterday morning I spent some time up in the Wasatch Mountains and I am so glad that I did because I found a second winter Bald Eagle with leucism.

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Canada Goose With White Plumage On Its Head

By Mia McPherson|January 10th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Canada Geese, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: Branta canadensis, Canada Goose, geese, goose, head, leucism, leucistic, plumage variation, pond, Salt Lake County, spots, urban, Utah, water, waterfowl, white plumage, winter|

The Canada Goose was unusual because it had spotted, white plumage on its head and I was able to take photos of both left and right profile views of its head.

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Great Blue Heron With Some White Feathers In Its Dark Crown

By Mia McPherson|October 10th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Great Blue Herons, Leucistic, Utah|Tags: adult, Ardea herodias, crown, Great Blue Heron, heron, herons, leucism, leucistic, marhs, molt, strange crown, wading birds, wetlands, white feathers|

The unusually colored feathers of this Great Blue Heron that I photographed on September 24th of this year caught my eyes because it has some white feathers in its crown where normally all the feathers are dark black.

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Water Dance of Leucistic Eared Grebes on the Great Salt Lake

By Mia McPherson|July 22nd, 2017|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Eared Grebes, Leucistic, Utah|Tags: abnormal pigmentation, brine flies, brine shrimp, Eared Grebe, Great Salt Lake, grebe, grebes, hypersaline lake, leucism, leucistic, Partially leucistic, pigment issues, Podiceps nigricollis, rare, saline lake, water dance|

I will probably never see and photograph so many leucistic Eared Grebes again in my life time as I did yesterday on the Great Salt Lake.

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Partially Leucistic Adult Red-tailed Hawk in Flight – A Rare and Wonderful Sight!

By Mia McPherson|November 15th, 2016|Categories: Birds, Leucistic, Rarities, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: birds of prey, Buteo jamaicensis, Buteos, feather wear, flight, flying, hawk, hawks, leucism, leucistic, molt, molting, partial albino, Partially leucistic, raptors, rare, rarity, red tailed hawks, Red-tailed Hawk|

When the partially leucistic Red-tailed Hawk lifted off from the power pole I was able to capture photos of it in flight and I was stunned by the beauty of the hawk, pictures do not do this bird justice.

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Partially Leucistic Black-billed Magpie

By Mia McPherson|March 20th, 2015|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Black-billed Magpies, Leucistic, Utah|Tags: "piebald" effect, bird photography, Black-billed Magpie, bush, Davis County, flight, flying, landing, leucism, leucistic, magpie, magpies, Partially leucistic, Pica hudsonia, pied, pigment issues|

Last week I photographed some Black-billed Magpies on Antelope Island State Park and one of them was partially leucistic

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