How unusual is it that I have a leucistic black-capped chickadee AND a Black squirrel in my small neighborhood backyard? I’ve been watching the chickadee for nearly a year; the black morph squirrel showed up today. What is the best way to tag these observations for others to see as “different”?
I’m new to the iNatForum…please be gentle. Thank you.
Hi! You can read this topic https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/albinism-and-leucism/
Leucism is not a correct term (you can use depigmentation instead), but colour mutations are fairly common, some are rarer than others.
You can add those observations to projects, dedicated to “anomalies” of colour. e.g. Amazing Aberrants
Welcome to the Forum! I find any unusual specimens hold fascination for me. Well, I’m used to the melanistic squirrels as they are quite common here. Yes, do look at the Amazing Aberants project listed above. There are some really interesting observations there. Perhaps you will want to add your own :)
Hi Mary,
I don’t know where you are, but in Toronto, black Eastern grey squirrels are the dominant variant. We also have a population of amelanistic grey squirrels in the west end of town in Trinity Bellwoods park (with their own Twitter feed, a café named after them, etc.)
Just as a thought pertaining to the chickadee, it appears to have some form of depigmentation, though Mary first observed the bird just after the annual molt so I’m not sure if we can disprove it’s progressive depigmentation, which seems to be more common.
Thank you for the correction and information link!
Hi and thank you. I have photos of the chickadee through winter and spring. His/her coloring has remained consistent. I have a few observations I need to upload from the post-nesting period taken a week or two ago.
Hi, I am in western Washington State. I had read the black squirrel was common in the east. I have never seen one here. He also hasn’t been back for me to get a better photo. I’ll keep watching! I find the differences and commonalities in nature fascinating.
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