Grey schizochroic Robin (Erithacus rubecula) in Doñana, December 2019
José Luís Anguita found an unusual bird at La Rocina stream, Doñana, Huelva, Spain the last 28 December 2019. It recalled a Robin ( Erithacus rubecula ) but it lacked its usual reddish bib and looked overall greyish-bluish. Initially the observer went shocked when the found the bird: Lo encontré en el arroyo de La Rocina, Huelva, el pasado 28 de Diciembre de 2019. Podrás imaginar el susto. .../... The bird remained at its site from 28-30.12.2019. And beyond an aberration in a Robin coloration, he wondered if those bluish tones may have something to deal with some kind of hybridization with another species. Indeed, as he pointed out regarding a previous observation of a bird in the UK this bird is a ‘Grey’ schizocroism mutation affecting one of the species pigments, the phaeomelanin. And the bird is indeed a Robin ( Erithacus rubecula ). As Van Grouw (2006) -excerpt below- stated in his clàssic reference on colour aberrations ( Not every white bird is an al...
