Leucistic adult Red-tailed Hawk perched in a tree – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
Four years and two days ago I spent the morning looking for and photographing a rare leucistic adult Red-tailed Hawk that a friend had told me about. I wrote a post about photographing this handsome raptor the day after I took my first images of it and today I wanted to share two more photos of that snow white bird.
In my original post I mentioned that when I first spotted and pointed out the leucistic Red-tailed Hawk that it was perched in a tree and back lit but I didn’t share the photo above of the hawk. From a distance the raptor looked like it could have been a white plastic bag hung up in the branches of the tree. With my keen eyesight even from a long distance I was able to see that it wasn’t just a plastic bag. It was the rare hawk that I had been searching for.
After a bit the leucistic Red-tailed Hawk flew to a power pole where I was able to take photos of it in better light.
Leucistic Red-tailed Hawk lifting off from a power pole – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
When the nearly pure white Red-tailed Hawk lifted off the the power pole I was able to take photos of it in flight as it flew out over a field to the west.
Neither of these photos are great and I wish that they were better than just documentary images. With a rare or unusual bird I’ll take those kind of photos.
I saw and photographed the leucistic Red-tailed Hawk two mornings in a row and then it may have moved on to another location because I never saw the unusual raptor again.
Even though it is now four years later I still look for this striking leucistic Red-tailed Hawk in Tooele County and hope to find and photograph it again one day.
I had planned on sharing this post two days ago but decided I wanted to publish the post I did for the person that had come to my site looking for information on how much to feed a juvenile Brown Pelican instead.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Red-tailed Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.
Definition of leucism:
an abnormal condition of reduced pigmentation affecting various animals (such as birds, mammals, and reptiles) that is marked by overall pale color or patches of reduced coloring and is caused by a genetic mutation which inhibits melanin and other pigments from being deposited in feathers, hair, or skin. The presence of unusual plumage contrasts (such as a very pale-winged bird with dark brown tail) is a strong indication of leucism. — David Allen Sibley
Wow! Hawks have always been among my favorite birds and these shots of the Leucistic Hawk are stunning. Thanks Mia.
Have to disagree – that is a GREAT flight shot of an exceptionally rare bird. Thank you so much.
What a beauty! I hope you see him again.
And I hope that the pelican person heeded your words and found a qualified wildlife rehabber.
Such a gorgeous bird. Good to see you again today!
What a gorgeous bird!!!
What a magnificent bird.
I hope that it survived and thrived – and that you see it again.