WHITE SPARROWS IN CHCH.
Partial Albino
Suggestion
The white sparrows seen m Christchurch during the last few months might only be partial albinos, says a Christchurch ornithologist. Dr. B. Stonehouse.
After a report in “The Press” of a Frankton family which had an albino sparrow, reports were received yesterday of a pure white sparrow in Selwyn street and a yellow-ish-white one at Hare wood Dr. Stonehouse said that pure albinos were usually at such a disadvantage that they died early, before getting an opportunity to rear young. They had poor eyesight, and, as birds relied on eyesight to such an enormous extent, pure albinos would not normally survive for long. Partial albinos, while not having any pigments in their feathers, could have sufficient pigment in their eyes to allow them to survive, and these birds, while uncommon, would be more common than pure albinos, Dr. Stonehouse said.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19661124.2.169
Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31225, 24 November 1966, Page 18
Word Count
147WHITE SPARROWS IN CHCH. Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31225, 24 November 1966, Page 18
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Acknowledgements
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