I spotted this blackbird in the garden (see photo). It is not black but light grey, and it did not have pink eyes so I guess that it is not an albino. It spread its wings and lay in the sun; in due course it flew off. I鈥檝e never seen a blackbird with this colouring before. Can anyone tell me more about it?
(Continued)
鈥� The reason given by an earlier correspondent from Canada for the off-colour blackbird鈥檚 behaviour seems questionable.
In my garden in the south of England, birds often show this behaviour. The species involved include blackbirds, robins, sparrows and pigeons, and all behave the same way: wings spread and tail raised, with their back to the sun.
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They choose various parts of the garden and seem only to do this on sunny days. I鈥檝e not seen any evidence of the involvement of ants killing parasites on the birds鈥� feathers as your correspondent suggests.
This behaviour is frequent in the late spring, often involving more than one bird at a time in different parts of the garden. Is it possible that they are just enjoying the warmth of the sun?
The stretching, the closed eyes and the orientation certainly suggest this. I haven鈥檛 seen first hand the behaviour of ants in Canada, as your correspondent obviously has, but perhaps they are just taking advantage of the temporary shade provided by the blackbird鈥檚 wings.
Mike Garrett, Woking, Surrey, UK
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This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淥ff colour鈥�