12-05-2025
Extremely rare piebald robin spotted in Pittsburgh park
A robin with an extremely rare condition that turns part of its body white has been spotted around a Pittsburgh park.
Pittsburgh park rangers shared photos last week of a piebald robin that's all the talk around Riverview Park.
The park rangers explained that the robin, which still has a red breast but has black and white speckled feathers, has a genetic condition called leucism, meaning some cells lack pigment and others don't.
What is leucism?
According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, full leucism happens when there's a reduction in all types of pigment, making an animal appear paler than normal. Partial leucism results in irregular patches of white, a pattern that is often called "pied" or "piebald."
Leucism is different than albinism, which is a genetic mutation that interferes with the production of the pigment melanin. Pittsburgh park rangers say albino animals have red or pink eyes, while animals with leucism still have color in their eyes.
"This does not hurt the bird, except that it doesn't blend in with its environment as easily as it would otherwise," Pittsburgh park rangers explained.
How rare is leucism?
The park rangers say only 1 in 30,000 birds have leucism, "so this splotchy robin is pretty rare and special!"
It's not the first piebald animal to be spotted in the Pittsburgh area. Last fall, a wildlife camera in Western Pennsylvania captured video of a piebald deer, which was both brown and white. The Pennsylvania Game Commission said piebald deer are reported at rates well under 1% of the population.
