WHITE FEMALE SATIN BOWERBIRD ,VERY RARE .IS THIS A NEW SPECIES OR IS IT ALBINO ????

[detestsleep]

albinos have red eyes

[nickathanas]

I'm not an expert on Aussie birds, but I would guess it is leucistic.

[PYTHAGORAS101]

I think you are right .i have a very comprehensive book on aussie birds , but it does not mention leucism ,strange . I only learned about it through posting this vid.

I still dont know the why's of albino and leucistic and why they are differnt ,

I know it is a genentic defect with menolyn but what causes it ?

[assassin4than]

you can see the difference between leucism and albinism through eye colour. normally albino animals have pink eyes

[PYTHAGORAS101]

good point , thx ,

Please tell me friend , how far are you down the rabbit hole on this ?

(leucism ,albinism)

(i'd like to learn more )

[assassin4than]

Well i am quite good at genetics for a kid and i understand the differences between albinism and leucism.

albinism being a hypopigmentary congenital disorder reducing or completely depleting the melanin levels in the animals skin eyes hair.

Leucism however is occuring in the skin and hair but not the eyes and is a depletion of not only melanin but several other pigments in skin

I am not an expert (still being in secondary education) particularly in birds (i study the field of felines)

[assassin4than]

they are both Congenital disorders which means a birth defect.

i dont study birds but i really believe that would be albinistic. you can clearly see at 0:15 it has a red iris. (caused by no melanin which means you can see the blood behind its colour) i would say it has imperfect albinism,

hence the brown feathers and pale pink legs and beak rather than white.

It wouldnt be a new species because they take thousands of years to develop and we would see some greyer bowerbirds to prove the evolve.

[PYTHAGORAS101]

I can't believe someone down rated this video . This is very cool .there is not even a pic of a bird like this anywhere .

I CHALLENGE ANYONE TO FIND ONE

[PYTHAGORAS101]

She certainly is beautiful ,i wouldn't say lucky 2 have her on camera ,just lucky 2 have her around .i see her many times a day and i have dozens of videos of her . (3 today)

Do you know its very hard to tell a young male from a female . Males turn blue satin @ 7YRS .I hope Blondie is a male and i document it .

you said something that made me think ,i'll get back later

[PYTHAGORAS101]

The general location is High country Victoria ,altitude 1000m near to state forest.

Experts are telling me its leucistic and not nessesary female . Apparently it is quite difficult to tell a young male from a female till the males get their blue plumeage after 7 years . I thought they change sex ,but apparently not .

Thanks 4 the comment ,i will be putting the general location in the blurb .

[Ornithom]

It would be handy to know the general location the video was taken. However, I would go along with your id that it is a female Satin, with partial albino or more likely leucistic colouration.