Tom Parkinson's monthly column, introducing the diverse range of flora and fauna on show at Sanctuary Lakes.

It is now almost ten months since I was approached by a long-time Sanctuary Lakes' resident telling me he had a white sparrow living in his garden.  He and his wife had made a habit of feeding the birds around their garden.  A few months back they saw a small thin tiny white very hungry bird land on the seed tray.  At first they thought it was a young budgerigar but as it became a regular feeder, they could see that it was in fact a sparrow.  Was it an albino?   He thought it might be albino but wasn't a hundred percent sure.

Besides the usual grey, brown, black and white colouring of a house sparrow, there are two types of known pigment changes.

One, the extremely rare Albino which is caused by lack of melanin within the genes. This recessive characteristic only appears when a bird inherits the rare non melanin gene from both parents.

Secondly is the relatively common Leucism, a condition in which there is partial loss of pigmentation resulting in white, pale, or patchy coloration of the feathers and is caused by a reduction in multiple types of pigment, not just melanin as is the case of the Albino.  Up to one in two hundred House Sparrows can be seen with some form of Leucism.  One is presently in the vicinity of the eastern entrance to the Sanctuary Lakes Shopping Centre, scrounging for tit bits around Michaels Patisserie.

However, the Albino sparrow is a one in a million.  Research confirms that less than five have been reported, photographed and confirmed worldwide this century.  None has ever been reported in Australia in the last forty years.

White sparrowHouse Sparrows: Passer Domesticus by Rita Parkinson watercolourI wasn't sure what to expect when I arrived at 7.30 am for the white sparrow's morning feed.  Initially the bird was very nervous, hiding in the bushes and only approached the grain seeds in a small tray on the garden wall after we had quietly retreated inside the house.  Eventually it landed by the tray and there was little doubt in my mind that it was an Albino sparrow.  It had all the hallmarks, the tell-tale pink legs, beak and eyes.

Next step was to get three experts to separately confirm this was an Albino. First was David Attenborough's Australian cameraman Greg Parish, then fanatical amateur bird-watcher John Clarke and finally our local professional ornithologist Bob Winter.  After each one viewed it separately all agreed independently that SLR’s new resident was indeed an Albino Sparrow.

Why are Albino Sparrows so rare?  Why did this one survive?  Bob Winters explains:

"Firstly it was lucky it wasn't turfed out of the nest by the mother as that is what happens to them initially.  Parasitic birds lay their eggs in other bird’s nest, so they have to be tuned into this.  If the bird in your nest doesn't look like the rest when it hatches then generally it's thrown out of the nest by the mother.

"Even if it's not turned out of its nest, its rare condition makes the chances of the bird surviving relatively low.  The genetic mutation leaves its feathers pure white and makes it stand out to all the birds of prey in the vicinity who fancy a quick snack.  It has very poor eyesight and brittle feathers so it can't fly very far.  It looks so different none of the other sparrows will want to mate with it.  It's got its work cut out to stay alive let alone have a social life.  The bird is a loner for a reason.

"It's also got a good survival strategy by being extremely shy, nervous of any sound, movement or changes to a routine.  It sticks to the thick bushes thereby avoiding any passing hungry hawk and will only come out when it feels confident enough to do so.  Local people are protecting it by feeding it at regular times and close to its bush hideaway.  This albino sparrow won't stray too far from its familiar surroundings, going no more than 100 metres away and will generally stay hidden."

The bird's habit of an almost constant mixture of shyness and nervousness made photographing and filming extremely difficult. Over a very patient month, Bob and I, with a lot of assistance from the house owner, managed to produce ten excellent still photos and ninety seconds of film footage. Whilst filming, the locals started to name the sparrow "Little White Angel".

We now started work with SLR's media and PR guru Ron Smith to strategize an international media launch, helped by the SLR administration of Tony Ferreri and Ian Brown.  We produced a series of media packages.  It was decided to start with the ABC News on the first Sunday in May and release to the Press and internationally on the Sunday night for Monday.  We were astonished by its success.  Almost every paper in Australia and New Zealand took the story, but even more amazingly papers throughout the world gave it good coverage, from the Hindustani and Straits Times, the major German, French, Italian and Spanish papers, the UK tabloids and even the New York and Los Angeles Times.  Equally the world’s 24 hour News cycle took it up as a favourite light story.

A Little White Angel that can barely fly a 100 metres now circled the world.

The good news is that the Little White Angel is still very much alive and is now a very healthy, plump fluffy and almost confident "only one in the world", Albino Sparrow.  It is believed that the Angel might be a female, as one of the locals claims to have seen a little hanky panky in the bushes.  I for one don’t believe Angels get up to that sort of thing, but then I’m old fashioned.

The survival of the rarest of the most common is thanks to those good locals who looked after the Angel from its fragile beginnings and the Sanctuary Lakes' residents who have kept its exact location to themselves, thereby giving the Little White Angel the privacy needed to survive.

Rubik's resident illustrator International Botanical artist Rita Parkinson has commemorated these achievements with a watercolour painting (30cm x 38 cm) of the Little White Angel (above).  Rita is printing a limited edition of signed reproductions with proceeds to the Good Friday Children’s Hospital Appeal (25th March).  In the preceding week, on 18th March, a framed version, the first of the print run, will be auctioned at the Mambourin Charity Event at the Sanctuary Lakes Golf Club.  If you would like to order a copy please contact - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..