Keep an eye out for albino squirrels and other ghostly sightings

Published on Tuesday 9 December 2008 20:17

SINCE the first round of The Scotsman's Wildlife Watch began in December 2006, albino animals and other white creatures have regularly featured in our quarterly nature survey.

From finches feeding on bird tables in the Borders to pheasants scurrying across the roads in rural Perthshire, readers have reported sightings of some ghostly white wildlife.

Albino creatures carry a gene, passed from one generation to another, which prevents their bodies from producing the usual amount of a pigment, or colouring, called melanin.

Some of the most frequently spotted albino creatures have been grey squirrels, with a pure white coat and eyes a piercing pink colour. Most of the albino squirrel records have come from Kirkliston and Barnton, in Edinburgh, with our readers reporting regular sightings, not just over the Wildlife Watch weekends.

Rab Potter, the Scottish Wildlife Trust's reserve manager for North east Scotland, said: "Albino animals are not all that common at all – it's probably more common in creatures like deer and hedgehogs.

"We have two white fallow deer for example that are regularly seen at our Loch of the Lowes wildlife reserve, near Dunkeld. Visitors will often report sightings of the white deer to the reserve's staff.

"Many of the deer we see in the north probably won't be true albinos but may have white colouring from their breeding. Some of their parents may have bred with white deer from deer parks or farms." Mr Potter said he had also read reports of albino tadpoles. As well as mammals, albinism has been reported in amphibians, fish, reptiles and birds.

Paul Stancliffe, from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), said: "True albinos are quite rare but pure white birds, while still quite rare, are not always albinos. There is also a condition called leucism.

"Leucistic birds can have just one or two white feathers in their plumage or they can be completely white. They differ from true albinos in that they have normal eye, leg and bill colour – whereas those in albinos are pink.

"True albinos are particularly rare but leucism is quite widespread – and seems to be more widespread in birds that are black, like crows and jackdaws.

|We've had lots of reports of those species having varying amounts of white in their plumage and from all over the country."

Mr Stancliffe said the BTO regularly received reports of leucism in blue tits and great tits, as well as among finches, such as chaffinches, goldfinches and greenfinches.

He said reports of true albino birds were less common, with the most recent sighting reported to the BTO being an albino starling.

How to take part in Wildlife Watch

What do I have to do?

Go outside this weekend and make a record of the wildlife you see. Either take photographs or make written notes and e-mail them to or post to Wildlife Watch, The Scotsman, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh, EH8 8AS.

What notes should I take?

You should note down the name of the species; the date you saw it; where you saw it (preferably including a post code or a six-figure grid reference); and your own name and contact details. The records will be collected by The Scotsman and passed to the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) and Biological Recording in Scotland (Brisc), which may use them in their work.

Which creatures should I look for?

We want to hear about any species you spot, from birds and mammals to plants which are flowering at unusual times of the year.

What should I take with me?

Take a pen and paper to note sightings. Take your camera, too, because photographs can be useful for identifying which species you have seen.