Piebald Dark Eyed Junco

One of the entertainments during the cold lockdown was watching the birds on the back porch. I threw seeds out onto the snow (haha, “snow”, it was solid ice), and we watched from our kitchen table. I saw one unusually colored bird and snapped some photos. SamBiology on iNaturalist figures it is a piebald dark eyed junco. Neat.

Photo description: piebald dark eyed junco front view
Photo description: piebald dark eyed junco side view
Photo description: piebald dark eyed junco back view

Piebald: having irregular patches of black and white.

“Piebaldism is a genetic condition caused by the improper migration of melanocytes during development. As a result, birds develop irregular, unpigmented (white) patches on their feathers or skin, while the rest of their body retains its normal pigmentation.” – Nature’s Way Birds