SerpApi.Org
When Lynn Westcott works from her home in Snyder, New York, she likes to work in the living room. Westcott, a bird-lover and the director of development at Buffalo Audubon, enjoys this space because it allows the clearest view of her bird feeders, which she regularly checks throughout the day, catching glimpses of native species like dark-eyed juncos, downy woodpeckers, house finches and mourning doves.
Recently, on one such work-from-home day, Westcott looked out the window at her snow-covered yard and saw someone she hadn’t expected.
“I glanced at the feeders and saw a white and pink bird,” Westcott told The Dodo. “Initially, it reminded me of a tropical bird. I was very confused and thought whatever was out there was completely out of place in the middle of winter in Buffalo!”
Westcott looked closer and analyzed the size and shape of the bird’s beak. The mysterious bird reminded her of a cardinal, but she couldn’t be a cardinal, could she? After all, cardinals aren’t white.
Westcott recorded a video of the bird and sent it to one of her colleagues at Buffalo Audubon. Soon, her suspicions were confirmed — the bird was a cardinal, and she was leucistic.
Unlike albinism, which leads to a complete absence of melanin and makes an animal appear completely white, leucism is used to describe animals with a partial loss of color pigmentation. This is why the cardinal whom Westcott spotted is mostly white, with bits of red on her feathers and beak.
Spotting a leucistic bird is rare. According to Avian Report, leucism or albinism occurs in about one in 30,000 birds, though albinism is the rarest by far, impacting a vast minority of that subset. Still, seeing a leucistic cardinal is pretty amazing.
“It felt really special and exciting and, of course, I texted it to everyone I knew who might be interested,” Westcott said. “I'm also so grateful that she chose to visit our yard.”
Westcott especially appreciated the way the bird reminded her of the joy and surprise of nature. The birder, who works at a nature preserve and is lucky enough to see beautiful plants and wildlife regularly, knows better than anyone how important it is to take the time to observe what’s around us, even on busy days. After all, you never know who you’ll see.
“We all need downtime, and I think taking snippets of time to enjoy and really pay attention to nature is a great way to relax and escape daily routines,” Westcott said. “Even if for a short time.”
