Leucistic Canada Goose Sighting
An amazing thing happened during my daily walk along the creek. I came across a rather large gaggle of Canada Geese, not unlike many times before, except this time something was different. In the midst of the normal looking Canada Geese was a misfit – a beautiful white goose happily eating and socializing amongst the gaggle, completely unaware of its singular beauty, just one of the gang.
After a bit of research, I came up with an answer regarding this oddity. Leucism (pronounced LUKE-ism) is the most likely reason why this lovely white goose looked so different from the others. Leucism prevents pigments in the bird’s body from reaching some or sometimes all of a bird's feathers.
The degree of leucism varies with a bird's genetic makeup. The skin and eyes remain their normal pigment and color in a leucistic bird. The condition should not be confused with that of an albino animal. Albinos are entirely white with pink eyes and skin.
Though both conditions are rather rare, one is much more likely to see a leucistic bird than an albino bird. And birds of any species can have this condition. Birds that have white patches or washed-out plumage may simply be leucistic.
Now my daily walks to the creek will take on new determination – to see this lovely white goose again.
You can watch this beautiful leucistic canada goose in action on the Gemini Universal LLC YouTube Channel. Don't forget to subscribe!
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