Have You Seen Me?

Not too long ago, I started receiving phone calls at WBS inquiring about a “white hawk” people were seeing in the area.  

At first I thought they must have been mistaken, as there aren’t really any white hawks native to this area.  I explained that the World Bird Sanctuary has a South American species of White Hawk in our Nature Center, but assured them that it was not the same type of bird that they were seeing.  My curiosity was piqued, though, and I started doing a little research. 

Initially I spoke with our Field Studies Coordinator Cathy Spahn, who is one of our “go to” people when it comes to bird identification.  I explained the many calls I had been receiving, and asked about the possibility of a white hawk in the area.  She then led me to some information regarding leucism and albinism in birds that was very interesting.

Not long after that, I spotted what I thought to be a leucistic Red-Tailed Hawk in a tree that I pass every day on my way to WBS.  I was shocked, but as they say, seeing is believing.  I was thrilled that I had been lucky enough to see it for myself.  I began watching for this rare bird every day, and saw it several more times.  On a few occasions I tried to pull over and snap a picture, but this bird was very wary and spooked easily.  Other staff and volunteers had spotted the bird in the area, as well.  The last time that I saw this unusual bird I was finally able to capture several pictures.

Leucism in birds results from varying degrees of dilution of normal pigmentation.  It’s a genetic mutation that prevents melanin from being deposited normally on feathers.  That’s a fancy way of saying that the normal pattern and color of their plumage is very pale or washed out looking.  There are also birds with pied leucism, which have splotchy patches of white feathers on their bodies.  Neither of these are albino, which is when an animal is completely white and has red eyes.  These color variations can occur in several species of birds, including songbirds, and is a relatively common occurrence in domesticated Cockatiels—a species that has been extensively bred for color variations by humans.  Leucism is relatively unusual in most species of wild birds.

Jeff Meshach, Assistant Director of WBS, has extensive experience trapping wild raptors with both registered banders and falconers.  He saw the bird in question, too, and informed me this Red-tailed Hawk was actually a color variation of the Red-tailed Hawk called “Krider’s.”  Jeff went on to tell me he has seen even lighter colored Red-tails than the one we’ve seen that were the “Krider’s” variation and not leucistic.  Yes, the bird in question was much lighter in color on its breast, head and tail than a normal colored Red-tail for this area, but the light colors were consistent throughout the feathers.  A leucistic Red-tail, or any other bird for that matter, almost always has a bright, white feather mixed in with the normal colored feathers.  Particularly with Red-tails, as the bird ages, more and more white feathers can mix with the normal ones, and eventually most of the bird could be white.  Red-tailed Hawks, by the way, are the most variably colored of all the Buteos (genus of the Red-tail) in North America.

If you are near WBS, keep a sharp eye out, and you may be lucky enough to spot this wild wonder.  Let us know if you do.

Submitted by Billie Baumann, World Bird Sanctuary Outreach Coordinator