BHUBANESWAR: Leucistic Common Moorhen, a rare coloured bird, was spotted at Mangalajodi wetland in Khurda district recently.
Bird guide Madhu Behera spotted a rare mutation known as ‘leucism’ in the Common Moorhen, a resident bird of Mangalajodi, and sent few photos of the bird to former honorary wildlife warden of Khurda Subhendu Mallik who identified the mutation as ‘partially leucism.’
“The aberrantly coloured Common Moorhen has white feathers in its wings and body next to normal-coloured ones that makes it partially leucistic. On the other hand, a normal coloured Common Moorhen as per eBird India has big white oval patches under the tail and white streaks along flanks. Adult has red bill with yellow tip,” Mallik said.
He said Common Moorhen is also known as Eurasian Moorhen. The bird is common in fresh and brackish marshes as well as ponds and lakes.
Bird guides claimed that the leucistic Common Moorhen has been sighted for the first time in Odisha and this is the second sighting in India. In 2017, a leucistic Common Moorhen was spotted at Vellayani-Punchakari wetland in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala.