KIWI WITH WEIRD FOOT

Fleur Fulcher drew our attention to this:

Sometime before 1938 a Mr C. Haylock collected a kiwi with an unusual foot near Kawhia. The left foot lacked pigment and was presumably a pale pinkish colour in contrast to the normal brown of the kiwi's leg and foot. Now, as a dried specimen, the foot looks like it has been dipped into a tray of whitewash. In all other ways the kiwi's colouration is normal. It is a half-grown bird and is an example of the North Island brown kiwi (Apteryx mantelli), found originally in forest throughout the North Island but now much reduced in range as a result of habitat destruction and the impact of predatory mammals. Albino individuals turn up occasionally in most bird species, as they do among humans.

Partial albinos are also common in birds, for example, the common blackbirds are sometimes seen about town with patches of white plumage. The Kawhia kiwi is presumably a partial albino.