NORTH CANTON - Gary and Cinda Carson are not bird experts,
but they now have a rare visitor in their back yard.
It's an albino-like ruby throated hummingbird they have
dubbed "Little Angel."

"It's kind of miraculous," Cinda Carson said. "We were
just astonished. I didn't even realize that white
hummingbirds even existed. My husband and I both responded
like little kids."

It's so rare that "I've never even heard of one," said
Carrie Elvey, a naturalist at The Wilderness Center in
Sugar Creek Township.

Jim McCormac, who works with the Ohio Department of
Natural Resources' Division of Wildlife and authored the
book "Birds of Ohio," said there is a reason albinistic
birds are so rare.

"In a nutshell, it's not good. It's a genetic disorder
because nature selects against those traits," he said.
"They don't last that long because they're more vulnerable
to predators."

Pure albino birds are completely white with pink eyes
because of the absence of pigment.

The bird in the Carsons' yard has black feet and slight
coloring in its feathers, which means that it straddles the
highly technical border between albinistic and Leucism.

However, neither genetic disease is beneficial for birds
and none with this condition have been known to survive the
winter migration to Mexico or Central America.

According to the Bill Hilton Jr. of Operation RubyThroat,
another reason albinistic hummingbirds might be so
vulnerable is their white feathers are weaker than those
with pigment and may break during migration.

Such news has only encouraged the Carsons to be more
thrilled with their discovery.

This is the third year the couple has tried to attract
hummingbirds to their Overland Avenue NE back yard.

The first year they did not get any and the second year they
only got one.

But during this third year, after a lot of work, they
have been able to attract many hummingbirds, including
Little Angel.

McCormac said that the Carsons' attraction toward
hummingbirds is common.

"Hummingbirds are tremendously popular. They bridge the
gulf between birders and nonbirders.

A lot of people who aren't really birders make great efforts to lure them to
their yards."

But this bird is an anomaly, so rare that it has been
discussed in Ohio bird watching organizations message
boards.

For more information, visit:
rubythroat.org

You can reach Repository writer Austin Lavin at (330) 580-
8316 or e-mail:
austin.lavin@cantonrep.com

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