Here’s today’s existential crisis for you to tackle: when is a blackbird not a blackbird?
What shade of black qualifies its blackness and when does it become a greybird.
Or, in this avian mystery’s case, when can we call it a whitebird?
Those are the questions Andy Turner from Dorset has been asking himself after his cat, Ozzy, spotted one in his garden.
The 54-year-old told BBC Newsround he was alerted when Ozzy began ‘throwing himself at the backdoor window’ excited by something outside.
Andy said the bird then perched itself on a bush for five minutes before flying off into the distance.
So you might be wondering how white blackbirds can exist?
The colouring is caused by a genetic mutation which affects the pigment in the bird’s feathers – turning them white.
It is thought only one in every 30,000 birds suffer from the same or similar conditions.
White blackbirds are also called leucistic blackbirds and this rare sighting was also confirmed by an expert from Dorset Wildlife Trust.
What’s even more spectacular is that it is even more rare for a blackbird to be completely white.
This is because most blackbirds with the mutation have a few white feathers and occasionally mottled feathers, where there is a mix of black and white.
Seb Elwood from the trust said: ‘This is a lovely leucistic blackbird – caused by a lack of melanin in the feathers.
‘There can be a scale of leucism, with some bird having just white patches, and in rare cases, entirely white plumage.
‘It’s a genetic condition that can be passed down through generations, so there can sometimes be multiple birds in the same area if a whole brood has been affected.
‘The leucistic feathers will be weaker than normal feather, making them more susceptible to wearing down.’
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