Blackbird?

[di.ridge]

Was in the Forest of Dean last week and saw what looked like a blackbird but it had very distinct white markings/flecks on its face, any ideas? Not quick enough to get a photo

[AndyB]

Hi and welcome to the forum di. Wonder if it could be a Blackbird with some albinism. Here's an example (http://www.oiseaux.net/photos/thierry.tancrez/merle.noir.1.html#fiche)

[Colin Key]

As Andy says (and illustrates with a very nice example) this is almost certainly partial albinism. It is indeed very common in my area and is clearly a genetically inherited feature since there are whole families of Blackbirds exhibiting these features. What is more confusing is seeing birds in which there are symmetrically distributed pure white wing or tail feathers.

Colin

[frankmeer]

Hi and welcome to the forum di. Wonder if it could be a Blackbird with some albinism. Here's an example (http://www.oiseaux.net/photos/thierry.tancrez/merle.noir.1.html#fiche)

And here's one with a bit more white in it:
http://forum.waarneming.nl/forum/index.php?showtopic=43864

[di.ridge]

Thanks Andy, it looks exactly like it