Rare white magpie thrills man in Wales: 'Wow, what a thing that was'

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A rare white magpie spotted in Wales recently is "beyond anything I could ever imagine seeing," a bird enthusiast exclaimed recently.

Terry Wright, 52, spotted the bird in the coastal town of Fishguard in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on Saturday (March 9), according to SWNS, the British news service.

Wright said the odds of seeing a white magpie are around one in a million, as the birds are very rare.

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The magpie could be white due to a condition called leucism — a genetic mutation that results in a total or partial reduction of color in a bird’s plumage, said the same source.

After a few failed attempts to take photos of the bird, Wright said he managed to capture some images. 

A man spotted this white magpie in Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, Wales, on March 9. Terry Wright, 52, said that when he saw the rare bird, it was "beyond anything that I could ever imagine seeing." (SWNS)

He said they were "beyond anything he could ever imagine."

He told other news outlets that the white magpie was with three other black-and-white magpies and that the other birds seemed to accept "their differently feathered friend," as the four of them took flight together.

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Wright of Abercych, Pembrokeshire, said of the white magpie, "I’ve never, ever seen one before."

He said he feels "blessed" to have been able to take the photos of the rare creature.

He said the odds of seeing such a "white bird are one in 30,000, but it’s one in a million to see a white magpie … It’s beyond anything that I could ever imagine seeing. I’ve never [taken] any photographs like this before," he added.

Wright said, "I have a smile on my face when I’m even talking about it, because I’m thinking, wow, what a thing that was."

A white magpie was spotted in Wales this month by an amateur photographer. Rare white magpies are said to have a condition called leucism, a genetic mutation that results in a total or partial reduction of color in the bird's plumage. (SWNS)

Wright oversees a Facebook page called Meander.

There, he posts daily nature photos to his nearly 6,000 followers.

He also says there, "Journey with me through my images. I’m a photographer and lover of nature. I’ve combined the two to take you through my images and posts to where I have adventured, to see what I have been fortunate enough to see."

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The wildlife lover said he feels "blessed" to have been able to take the photos of the white bird.

Said Wright, "For someone [who is] into nature, it’s just the best thing ever … I feel blessed to have been able to see it and to photograph it."

Last July, a "strangely colored magpie" thrilled a Perth man who stumbled across the rare white bird at work.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's "All About Birds" site notes that black-billed magpies are "social, inquisitive birds that eat fruits, grains, insects, small animals and frequently gather in large flocks at carrion."

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These birds "move in groups," the New York-based group also says, "and give a variety of trill, cackle and whistle calls. They flap steadily in flight, alternating deep and shallow wingbeats, and use their very long tails to negotiate abrupt turns."

Stories of unusual and oddly colored birds often go viral. 

"You don’t get to see stuff like that all the time," said a man last year about another unusual bird spotted in the wild. Shown here, left to right, a toucan, a young tawny owl and a male cardinal. (Francois Nel/Getty; Matt Cardy/Getty; Wolfgang Kaehler/Getty)

Last July, a "strangely colored magpie" thrilled a Perth man who stumbled across the rare white bird at work, according to Yahoo.

The man snapped pictures of the magpie and shared them on Facebook, where they went viral.

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Over 5,000 people reacted to the image and hundreds more posted comments to express their delight, Yahoo reported in July 2023.

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"It made my week … You don’t get to see stuff like that all the time," the man told Yahoo News Australia.

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