Albino or Leucistic Woodpigeon

A pure white bird landed on my bird table this morning. Pigeon type. At first I thought it was a feral pigeon but it appeared too large, slimmer in appearance with a longer neck. Could this be a leucistic or albino Woodpigeon I wondered. This identification seemed more probable when a regular plumaged Woodpigeon landed on the adjacent fence and I was able to compare the two birds in close proximity to each other.

Everything pointed to Woodpigeon as the correct ID apart from the pure white colour.  Albinism is another genetic condition that can turn a bird's plumage pale but there are distinct differences between albino and leucistic birds. Leucism affects only the bird's feathers and typically only those with melanin pigment - usually dark feathers. A leucistic bird with different colours may show some colours brightly, especially red, orange or yellow, while feathers that should be brown or black are instead pale or white. Some leucistic birds however can lose all the pigment in their feathers and may appear pure white. It's a complex puzzle.

So, leucistic or albino? I really don't know...