A rare black galah makes its appearance in South Australia

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For a few weeks now, I haven’t found anything in our news which would be of much interest to my Lotters. However, over the last few days there have been a couple of items. One was the sighting of a rare black galah. Galahs are usually pink and grey like the ones in the photo. The black colouring is called ‘melanism’ and is due to a mutation which results in the increased development of a dark-coloured pigment. Another example of melanism was a black kookaburra which was sighted in Manjimup, a few towns south of us. A genetic mutation causing the opposite effect of the feathers being completely white is called ‘leucism’. Leucism occurs much more often and such birds are often taken by predators very quickly because they stand out so clearly. To call someone in Australia a ‘galah’ is a derogatory term, meaning a bit stupid or an idiot. It can also be used as a term of endearment, of a sort.