Leucistic American Goldfinches are Abundant and Variable

Every morning practically, Ray has to go out and feed the birds. Because Ray is a mere mortal, as opposed to robotic, the birds don't get fed precisely at the same time every day. But they do get fed eventually, normally.

This morning, Ray was out fairly early, even though, the stygian darkness hung on. Yes. The darkness was somewhat prolonged by the clouds. So when Ray went out to feed the birds, it was still fairly dark, just not stygian dark.

Soon as Ray got back in, he was espying out the window. It is Ray's custom to look out the window after he feeds the birds. That's because there is some chance that something out of the ordinary may occur. And if Ray isn't watching he may miss that extraordinary occurrence. How Zen is that?

















Which explains how Ray came to espy the leucistic American goldfinch plus take its picture. Now remember, the darkness Ray is faced with is practically stygian, so Ray needs to hand hold the 400mm 5.6 at like a shutter speed of 50. Fifty I tell you. That's why this picture is out of focus. Camera shake.

Nevertheless, one can easily espy that this is a very much leucistic bird of Class Aves. Many of the leucistic goldfinch pictures one finds on the internet have way more pigment than this example. For Heaven's sake!