But one grackle in an Austin grocery store parking lot looked so different that even a bird-obsessed tattoo artist had to stop what she was doing.
“I am always looking for birds,” Animal told Chron. She said she even turned her wife into a birdwatcher, and the two have made a tradition of grabbing coffee and watching Austin’s famously bold grackles.
Animal was sitting in a grocery store parking lot watching the birds chase each other and hop around when the unusually patterned grackle caught her eye.
“I immediately took out my phone because I know how weird it is for one to have that pattern,” she said.
Animal had seen grackles with a few unusually pale feathers before, but never one with markings this extensive. She ditched her grocery shopping plans for the moment and tossed out food to coax the bird closer. Luckily, she was coming from work and had her professional camera with her.
For about 30 minutes, Animal watched and photographed the female behaving normally with the rest of the flock.
In a video posted online, her excitement was obvious.
“You guys, I just saw the coolest f–king bird I’ve ever seen, and yes, it is a grackle, but it’s a Dalmatian grackle,” Animal said. “It’s just so f–king cool.”
Leucism is a genetic condition that causes partial or total loss of pigment in an animal’s feathers, fur, skin or scales while typically leaving the eyes their normal color. In birds, the mutation can produce scattered white feathers, larger patches or, in some cases, nearly all-white plumage. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, leucism affects roughly one in 30,000 birds.
Grackles, meanwhile, are about as common as birds get in Texas cities. The highly adaptable blackbirds have become fixtures around grocery stores, shopping centers and other developed areas, where large flocks can gather to feed and roost.
Animal’s spotted grackle quickly became a hit with commenters, who compared its markings to everything from Oreo cookies to flour and Blue Bell Cookies ‘n Cream.
“It’s a genetic mutation to help them blend in with the parking lot stripes,” one commenter joked.
Another wrote, “Omg I want to get him tattooed!”
That might soon be possible. Animal said she plans to turn the bird into a tattoo design, and someone has already booked a session.
“A girl actually booked the session, and I’ll make some more,” Animal said.