Albinistic/leucistic Pileated Woodpecker discovered in West Chester, PA

Partial Albino Pileated Woodpecker (Photos by Bill Stewart)

              

        This post is from Bill Stewart's discovery of an almost pure white Pileated Woodpecker in a small park in West Chester, Pa

                        Written by Bill Stewart
I was fortunate enough to observe an albinistic/leucistic female Pileated Woodpecker yesterday morning at Shaw's Bridge Park outside of West Chester, PA.  Best description would be that 98% of the normal black plumage was white as snow, still maintained a red crest, black primaries and a whitish bill.  A rather stunning bird to see.  It appeared to be excavating a feeding hole and was joined by a male piwo making me think these two birds may be on territory and could possibly be re-found.  If you go to the park to try and find the woodpecker, pull into the parking area and drive towards the comfort station, park on your right and the birds were directly in front of me in the treeline along the road.