‘Whitie’ the “albino” magpie, spotted enjoying the view in Estella. Photo: Supplied.
A white bird doing the rounds in Estella and dubbed a “one in a million” albino magpie on social media may not be what people think it is, says a local expert.
Dr Melanie Massaro, Associate Professor in Ecology and Ornithology at Charles Sturt University, said the feathered celebrity nicknamed ‘Whitie’ might just be blonde.
“If it’s a true albino, then it’s a recessive genetic condition, and we definitely have that in a number of animals, including humans,” Dr Massaro said.
“They have all sorts of other health implications of being an albino, because it’s a recessive genetic disease.
“I think from the few pictures that I’ve seen, it more looks like a blonde bird to me, which means it’s probably totally healthy … [but] I would need to have a closer look.”
True albino magpies would have red eyes and be completely white, but a blonde magpie has black eyes and blonde-ish feathers that would normally be black.
“So they’re not white-white, but they’re blonde, so a very light colour and the difference in those ones is that because the pigment that gives, you know, the black coloration in birds is called melanin,” she said.
Recessive genetic conditions like albinism are normally not passed down to offspring unless both parents carry the same genes, meaning both parents must have a family history of albinism.
Whatever the case, the magpie has been a hit on Facebook, with sightings often posted on the Estella Community Group page.
One Facebook user said her husband often saw Whitie hanging out in the gum trees between Estella and Farrer roads.
“I’ve been looking non-stop for Whitie since my last post,” another user said.
Dr Massaro says white penguins are at a disadvantage in terms of fending off predators. Photo: Wikimedia commons.
The big question though is whether Whitie does or ever did what its species is famous for doing – swooping passersby in the first month of spring.
That depends on gender, not colour, Dr Massaro said.
“Because [Whitie] the magpie looks so funny, it’s completely white, you can’t really tell whether it’s a male or female,” she said.
“But their behaviour wouldn’t change just because they are blonde.”
While Pauline Hanson famously said, “It’s OK to be white”, Dr Massaro warned that being completely white could come at a cost to a species’ health or survival.
She used to study blonde Adelie penguins and found that they have a harder time fending off predators. Having black feathers allows the penguins to blend in with the water, something blonde penguins find difficult.
“So usually those color morph … come at a certain cost to those birds. So usually they have a slightly less likelihood of surviving depending on what sort of environment they live in.”
But worry not, Dr Massaro thought ‘Whitie’ had a promising future.
“It will live a long and happy life,” she said. “Probably.”
