RE: I think I killed a melanistic color phase eastern (pics)
Ten years or so ago, my of my buddies took a similar "Black Bird" with black legs. As I recall the spurs were around 1". This bird was taken in PA.
Several years ago I got a bird which appeared white in color standing next to a normal Eastern. The normal bird had a longer beard, but I chose to shoot the "White" one for fear of my buddies making jokes and have a difficult time believing me.
Actually his color was sort of light brown with a black beard and normal colored legs...