New Kid in the Covey

We have been raising northern bobwhites for five years and currently hatch 1,000 per month. I have used the same egg supplier, Strickland Game Bird (Pooler, GA). On June 19, and after several thousand birds, we were surprised with this bird – a pure Albino chick. I don’t know how uncommon it is to have an albino bobwhite, but I thought it might be of interest to the quail community. —Submitted by Carl P. Tolar, Memphis, TN



Albinism is one of the prominent and interesting departures from the normal color of birds and other animals. Many species of animals, including man, have at sometime produced offspring displaying true albinism. The word albino comes from the base word albus, meaning white, and it refers to individuals of any species that display an absence of pigment in the feathers, fur, skin, nails, claws, eyes, and all parts of the body ordinarily showing pigment. Because of this condition, the subject is pure white with pink eyes. Albinism is a recessive factor that breeds true in the pure state, and it conforms to a definite genetic behavior that Gregor Mendel, a monk of the middle 19th century, discovered. Early work with albinism helped lay foundations for modern studies relating to heredity.