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Project Noah Nature School
Buteo Jamaicensis
Believe it or not, this nearly-all-white raptor is a red-tailed hawk! He is leucistic which is different than an albino. Leucism is a condition that inhibits melanin distribution in animals, to different degrees, and is genetic.
I have been trying to get a decent picture of her for almost a month now!
Spotted on Jan 28, 2012
Submitted on Jan 29, 2012
29 Comments (1–25)
I agree mhosadurga!
Wow!
Thank you Jen.J!
This is absolutely gorgeous!! So glad you were able to get photos- and such great ones to boot!
Wonderful. We have a Grey goshawk in Australia, that in Tasmania that has an all white morph. It's the only all white normally occurring bird of prey. http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/596...
this is rare!
He is indeed a rare bird, although he is not actually an albino, instead he is leucistic because he does have pigment in his eyes, cere, feet and some feathers. If you look at my other spotting of him, in the last picture you can see 2 quirky red feathers in his tail: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/981... Kind of neat!
An albino hawk! what a rare ouccurance!
Thanks again, I've been meaning to go back and look for him to see if I can get some more pictures!
What a beautifully colored hawk! Great shots!
I love bald eagles but I have never seen them hunt, must be a beautiful sight. I had no idea they would go after geese.
That is very cool Apple! I love watching them! I saw two bald eagles hunting geese last week. It was very cool to see how fast they can move in the air when they want to!
@Emily--yes, bummed for our squirrel but glad to hear that birds of prey are on the rise again.....so great to see them all over Michigan again
I read up on the leucistic on Wikipedia and the eye color and leg colors are the normal color in birds with this condition apparently. What an awesome spotting.
Thank you Emma! That was very kind! ...and Apple sorry to hear about your little squirrel friend! They are an incredible and fierce hunter that's for sure. They are so common here in Colorado that I never thought much of them until I started observing them more. Now, they are one of my favorite birds of prey!
Beautiful spotting! My husband just watched a red-tailed hawk this morning. He said it was flying around majestically and swooped down and took one of the squirrels right from the tree. He said at first he thought how cool and then he realized it was one of our favorite juvenile squirrels born in our yard this spring and then he was bummed. But he said regardless it was an awesome sight.
amazing as usual Emily!!
Thanks! I look for him almost every morning now!
Wow, Emily great catch. He is so lovely.
(sigh)...we'll never know it all!!! ;-)
Ya...Andrea corrected me..."she" is a boy! lol! Apparently his "normal colored" mate is much larger! I'm still learning! ;)
You got her!! Except if this is "MyHawk" that was at our facility, then SHE is a HE. I'm thrilled for you! Excellent series of shots!! I'm jealous too! ;-)
Thank you all!
Great series!
Fabulous spotting! Such a beauty!