Are white birds really that more susceptible to predators?

I find that the "visually impaired" chickens (i.e. silkies
wink.png
) are more susceptible than white ones
smile.png
 
White against a dark background is a lot easier to see from a distance.

Some predators hunt by eyesight and most of these notice motion before anything else. So keeping the contrast down helps with these predators.

Others hunt by sound, color makes no difference in locating the meal.

Others hunt by smell and once again color makes no difference.

So if you have a white bird moving against a dark background you rang the dinner bell louder for one group of predators than the other groups.

It all depends upon what you have around for predators and if the birds are out where they present a good contrast or not with their background.
 
I have a whitel pullet now and first was worried she'd stick out in the yard. All is well except that she roosts under somebody during the night and gets pooped on, well you can see that at a distance! Poor bird always has a brown spot on her somewhere.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom