Rare images of the white peacock
BLACKPOOL STRIKING images of a leucistic peacock spreading its feathers have been captured in Blackpool Zoo, Lancashire.
A common misconception is that all white peacocks are albinos and although albino peacocks do exist, for the most part, their snow-white appearance is a result of a genetic condition called leucism.
Leucism covers a wide variety of conditions that result in partial loss of pigmentation in an animal, causing white, pale, or patchy colouration of the skin and feathers.
This extraordinary bird was snapped by a British wildlife photographer, Helen Black from Peterborough.
“I was standing at the bottom of the steps of the zoo’s café when I spotted this rare beauty on the terrace in front of the entrance,” she told mediadrumworld.com.
“I had never seen a Leucistic Peacock displaying its feathers before so it was a first for me.
“A lot of the zoo's visitors were frightened of him and were surprised that I stayed close to him and was snapping his pictures.
“I was very pleased to get a shot of him that came out so well, shooting a white animal can be tricky as you can easily over or under expose the image.
“So, I had to under-expose the image by -2/3 of a stop to preserve all the detail in his feathers.”
ENDS