Showing posts with label black phoebe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label black phoebe. Show all posts

Thursday, April 11, 2019

A white black phoebe in the American River Parkway in Sacramento, California


A heavily cropped photo of the white black phoebe that Bob had posted a different photo of earlier.  Black phoebes are members of the flycatcher family and tend to sit on a perch and dart out after a passing flying insect to feed on it and then return to the perch.  They usually have white bellies and are black everywhere else. The lack of pigment in the feathers while the eyes still have color means that this isn't albinism, but another condition called leucism, pronounced like "leukism." This condition means the body or feathers aren't producing pigment while the eyes or the bill can have pigment. Pigeons often exhibit this feature. We've seen many examples of white or blotchy white pigeons that are showing this same condition.

This photo was taken in January 2018, and Bob has not seen it so far in 2019.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

A white black phoebe along the American River Parkway, Sacramento, California


I, Bob, have observed this black phoebe in white plumage for the last couple of months, but today I managed to get my closest and longest look at it.  Black phoebes are normally all black, except for a white belly, but this one is almost all white with a little bit of cream coloring.  Black phoebes are members of the flycatcher family and feed on flying insects by waiting on a perch and then darting out after an insect flying by.

This phoebe's territory seems to be around a drainage pump assemblage about a half mile upriver from the Watt Avenue Bridge along the American River's south side in Sacramento, California.

This photo was taken with a Canon EOS 6D Mark II full frame DSLR with a 100-400 mm zoom lens set on 400 and the resulting photo was heavily cropped to get this final result.

For comparison, I've posted below my heavily cropped photo from the same day of a normal black phoebe, also along the American River.

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Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!