An Albino Darwin’s Finch was seen in Galapagos.

An Albino Darwin’s Finch was seen in Galapagos Islands on the border of the Sierra Negra Volcano on Isabela Island.

The excursionists were very excited about this sighting that happened while doing the excurcion the volcano Sierra Negra in Isabela Island, organized by Nature Galapagos & Ecuador. After the tour the guide informed the Galapagos National Park on this important sighting.

“Albino animals are extremely rare and unusual. They have all the characteristics of others of their species except they are all white in color. Not one inch of their natural coloring comes through as their bodies are unable to produce a pigment known as melanin. Melanin creates the normal pigmentation and coloring in an animal’s skin, fur or scales. This lack of melanin generally results in the animal looking bleached all over, appearing white or pink.

Being white doesn’t mean an animal is albino. The true test is in the eye coloration. All albino animals have pink/red eyes whereas white animals with blue eyes are called leucistic, which means they may have a reduced amount of pigmentation in relation to a normal specimen of their species but it is not as severe as albinism. We have some of both pictured here.

Albinism is an inherited trait and is passed from adult to young. An albino offspring is formed from a specific combination of genes coming together in any species. Albinos are rare because the genes which cause albinism are recessive and rarely occur.” Source: Factzoo.com