Britain's only robin 'white breast' prays for snow

Britain's only robin 'white breast' prays for snow

Last updated at 15:29pm on 19th December 2007 Comments (2)

This white-breasted bird sings like a robin, hops like a robin and behaves like a robin but it's missing one thing - it has no red feathers.

Just four inches long, the extremely rare robin has been seen hopping around a suburban garden this winter.

Its red-breasted cousins are Christmas card favourites but this little bird is partly albino and has no red pigment in its plumage.

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Robin Whitebreast: Spotted hopping around a garden

Wildlife photographer Colin Varndell was called by a keen-eyed amature birdwatcher, mystified by the strange bird in his garden.

But the pale robin - Erithacus rubecula in Latin - behaved just like a normal robin protecting its territory from an incoming Jay.

Traditional: The Robin Redbreast is a Christmas card favourite

Colin, who snapped the bird at an address in east Dorset, said: "It was amazing to see it.

"I give talks on my wildlife photography and I got a call from someone who had been at one of the talks and described the bird in his garden.

"I went along with my camera and spent hours waiting and then it hopped out in front of me and I was able to photograph it."

Tony Whitehead, from the RSPB, said he had never seen anything like it in 30 years of birdwatching.

He said: "This bird is part albino. From the back it looks normal but front on you can see the white goes right under its breast.

"It is a very rare thing. I have been birdwatching for 30 years and I have never seen one of these before.

"Albinism is genetic so it maybe one of this bird's grandparents or great grandparents showed some form of albinism."

The bird suffers from an extremely rare condition called leucism, which means all the red pigment is missing.

This makes its breast white and its brown colours slightly lighter than usual.

But there is no reason why the plump breasted bird should not live a full life and could well mate and produce youngsters in the new year.

There is no way of telling what sex the bird is until it begins mating and its behaviour is observed.

Mr Varndell said: "Some albino animals are at risk and get picked off, but robins are more skulking animals and stick to a small area.

"This one even scolded a Jay when I was watching it. It was very intriguing.

"Robins look for mates over Christmas so in the New Year it might be flying around with a partner."

Robins started to feature on Christmas cards in Victorian times to represent the red tunics worn by the postmen who delivered them.