Looking for the Leucistic: A Unique Looking Red-tailed Hawk

Last night one of my birding buddies, Eric Peterson, emailed some photos of a unique looking hawk he found just a few miles from our homes--at a place called Art Dye Park in American Fork, Utah. As soon as I opened the image I knew I might have a chance to see my very first leucistic (lew-sis-tic) Red-tailed Hawk, a hawk with a condition that causes reduced pigmentation (coloring). Leucism is not albinism because albinos actually have pink eyes and leucistic animals do not.  Eric had seen the hawk just before sunset so I crossed my fingers and hoped it would stick around until the morning so I could get a look at it.

I drove to the area where it was last seen by Eric and found no hawks. I decided to check out the areas surrounding the park while waiting for the sun to crest the mountains. I checked out the nearby golf course, Fox Hollow. I found a mix of ducks crowding a small part of a pond that had not frozen over. I took roll and identified about seven species of waterfowl in the little water hole. I drove back to Art Dye Park and came up empty again. I checked out another nearby park and came up empty on hawks. A resident Western Screech-Owl, however, was sunning himself in his south-facing winter roost as the sun was rising. It's pretty well camouflaged. You wouldn't know it was there if it weren't first pointed out by Chickadees and Scrub-Jays who were squawking at it.

Western Screech-Owl Highland, UT

Here's a closer look after the sunlight hit the owl more directly.

Western Screech-Owl Highland, UT

As I was walking back to my truck I had a Northern Pintail flyover. It circled above once to give me notice so when it circled again I captured some images.

Drake Northern Pintail Highland, UT

Drake Northern Pintail Highland, UT

I checked lots of trees surrounding the park on my way out and still found no hawks. I decided I needed to leave for work and made my way to a main road. Of course, I was glancing over at distant trees along the way. In a split second a vertically oriented white spot in a tree about 200 yards away caught my attention. I did a double and triple take since I was driving and couldn't glance for long. I turned off the main road and got within about 100 yards of what I was hoping was the target hawk. I could hardly contain myself when I got my binoculars on it and it turned out to be the hawk. The image below was taken from half the distance of when I first spotted the hawk. I was quite fortunate to notice the bird from that original distance while driving.

Leucistic Red-tailed Hawk Highland, UT

I approached a little closer to get a better look. What a beautiful sight--seeing such a familiar species of bird in such an unusual plumage.

Leucistic Red-tailed Hawk Highland, UT

The hawk took flight and showed upper and lower sides of all but the tail. I noticed that at least one tail feather was all white as well as the tip of one other tail feather. The rest of the tail feathers showed a rather typical rufous color on the upper side.

Leucistic Red-tailed Hawk Highland, UT

Leucistic Red-tailed Hawk Highland, UT

Leucistic Red-tailed Hawk Highland, UT

Leucistic Red-tailed Hawk Highland, UT

Leucistic Red-tailed Hawk Highland, UT

The hawk perched again soon after it took flight. There are lots of trees in which the hawk can rest and from which it can perch hunt. Large fields provide good hunting grounds and a bit of a cushion from human traffic. I think there is a good chance it will stick around.

Leucistic Red-tailed Hawk Highland, UT