Rare White Atlantic Puffin by Barbara Fryer

Barbara Fryer, from Umberleigh, Devon photographed a rare white Atlantic Puffin off the Isles of Scilly.

This Alantic Puffin has a condition known as leucism, which is often confused with albinism. Albinism is characterized by a total or partial lack of melanin pigment. Leucism is similar to albinism but it is a reduction in all types of pigmentation not just melanin. In birds, this can result in patches of white feathers. Also in leucistic birds, the eyes, feet and bill are usually their normal color like this Atlantic Puffin.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, leucism in birds is extremely rare. Peter Robinson, who worked for the RSPB for 25 years said:

I lived on the Isles of Scilly for 12 years and worked ringing puffins in Scotland for a season and have never even heard of a white puffin let alone seen one.

Barabara Fryer said:

I love puffins – they are stunning birds and this white one is even more beautiful than most.I’ve seen many puffin colonies across the UK over the past ten years and have never seen a white one before. Nobody I know has ever seen a white one either.

We had been out every day that week taking photos of puffins and we saw the white one on the last day.

It was lovely to see it swimming underwater and I am thrilled to have got the shots I wanted in quite difficult conditions.

So, last week a rare black penguin was photographed and now this week a beautiful white puffin! What else could be in store for next week?

Well, perhaps there is lesson we can all learn from this encounter with a rare white Atlantic Puffin.

Barbara Fryer went on to say:

It played around with the other puffins for about 15 minutes before flying away. They didn’t seem to mind its unusual color and treated it like a good friend.

If you liked the white puffin, checkout this video of a leucistic hummingbird or the photos of a leucistic Bald Eagle found in Arkansas.

[Times Online] via [Daily Mail]