AN UNUSUAL bird has been spotted in County Durham and is putting a smile on the faces of those who see it.

Sandy Mills managed to take a couple of snaps of the black and white bird when she was out dog walking in Shildon this week.

She said: "I am out walking all the time and from a distance I thought, 'that is a small magpie' and when I got to it, I thought 'wow!'.

"When I got even closer to it, it was quite tame."

Ms Mills says she regularly walks around woodland in Shildon but had never seen such an unusal-looking bird.

She said: "I have never seen one of those before in my life.

"I knew there were some reports about one being seen last year, it is definitely 100 per cent a blackbird, but it's certainly different.

"I just thought I'd share it because it's something to make people smile and I think we all need that at the moment."

It is likely that the bird is a backbird with the condition known as leucism - abnormal white or pale plumage due to a lack of melanin pigment.

The condition can occur in any bird species but it does seem to be particularly common in blackbirds.

It is caused by a genetic mutation so it is not unusual to find several affected birds in the same area who are probably related.