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Hybrid or Sport?

1K views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  Hardrar 
#1 ·
We have this fledgling living in our garden at present- being fed by a Dunnock. It has pure white primaries and white tail, with a horizontal dark line through its eye, The Dunnock with it definitely feeds it.

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#5 ·
Interesting. The adult's plumage says dunnock but the beak says sparrow or finch. Compare... this is a dunnock...



The beak is narrower than a finch.

???

As for the pale plumage - as Bobfly2 says - leucism. It is a common mutation in birds. Edinburgh's crows have a fair bit of leucism in them...



Col
 
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#7 ·
I thought that on the bill, but it's only just out of the nest and their gapes narrow up as the bill hardens. We are lucky and have a big mixed flock of tree and house sparrows live and breed in our garden, as it's a Big garden, with mixed clipped hedges up to 12 feet high and 6 feet thick which they live in. I also provide sparrow communal nest boxes, which are always full and the Dunnock often share communal boxes with the house sparrows.
it does have a black bib under its bill too.
 
#6 ·
We have this fledgling living in our garden at present- being fed by a Dunnock. It has pure white primaries and white tail, with a horizontal dark line through its eye, The Dunnock with it definitely feeds it.

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It is leucism, not uncommon in birds. Causes patchy loss of pigmentation in the feathers. We have two generations of sparrow closeby with white tails and patch white flanks. Not the same as albinism in animals which is overall and due to melanin not being produced.
I keep cage birds too and we would call it a pied, but the markings are totally symmetrical, in flight it's three parts white.
I've seen loss of pigment in birds before, but not so symmetrical.
 
#10 ·
East Yorkshire Dunnocks tend to look a bit different, thicker set with less blue and more chestnut/black up their backs and upper wing primaries.
A local farmer friend had a black and white sparrow in his stackyard flock for years , no brown at all and it was definitely a house sparrow, upper mandible was black, lower white.
 
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