Why are there so many ‘white hawks’?

Written by Jack Sanders
Thursday, 04 February 2010 12:00

In recent months, the column has had reports of white or partially white birds, most of them hawks from South Salem, but including an early January sighting in Ridgefield by Bob Padlowski.

Bob saw “a large white hawk” in Ridgefield on Route 35 “...  a tall, large white bird perched at the very top of a tall tree on the westbound side of the road. At first glance I thought it was an owl, but it was too slender and had a well-defined head and neck and broad ‘shoulders.’  I thought it might be a Bald Eagle until I confirmed that it was all white, not just the head.  If it was indeed an albino Red-tailed hawk, it was one of the largest, if not the largest, red-tail that I have seen.”

Not all reports have been of hawks.  Jere Ross of Redding  writes, “A couple of years ago, I was looking out my kitchen window on a March afternoon after an early spring storm had left some rapidly melting clumps of snow on the lawn.  Suddenly one of the clumps in my neighbor’s field about 100 feet away started to move, and although the ‘clump’ was at a slight angle to me and moving slowly away, I could see clearly that it was a large bird with a long tail.  It then turned its head and I saw the vivid red patch there and knew instantly that it was a cock pheasant.  I could not, however, clearly see its eyes.  It strolled off into the woods, and I never saw it again.”

All these sightings got me to thinking about why hawks seem to be among the most commonly reported “white” birds.

First, a reminder about the terms, albino and leucistic.  Leucistic creatures lack all kinds of pigment in part or all of the surface of their bodies which, in birds, is reflected in the feathers. Albino creatures lack only one pigment — melanin — but it’s missing not only in their skin, feathers and — in mammals — hair, but also in their eyes. Thus, an albino has pinkish eyes. For the sake of simplicity, let’s just call both “white” birds.

Many species of birds, like Jere’s pheasant, have white aberrations. With most, that can be a real problem. Many birds are colored to blend in with their environment — they are camouflaged. This may not always be evident  — a cardinal doesn’t look camouflaged to us, but in the eyes of a hawk, cardinal red may not be the glowing color it is to our eyes.

Thus, a white robin, a white crow or a white pheasant will tend to stick out like a sore thumb. For a bird hoping to blend in with its environment, that can be a problem. Predators may be more apt to spot a white bird, and have it for dinner.

That maybe why Jere never saw the pheasant again and why we so rarely hear about white versions of many of our songbirds.

However, hawks have no predators. They are pretty much at the top of the food chain. They don’t need to hide from enemies. For them, white is not a flag to enemies.

But camouflage in nature not only prevents predation, but can also help it. A bird that eats other birds, as well as mammals, does not want to be seen by its prey. That’s why most hawks are mostly brown and white, blending in with the trees from which they hunt.

In summer, a white hawk may have trouble hiding among the trees, but in winter, white may actually be an advantage — at least, when there is snow around. Yet even in summer, a white hawk may go unnoticed by prey because birds, squirrels, rabbits and other potential hawk dinners may not be on guard for an enemy that’s white.

Probably being white isn’t much of an advantage for a hawk; otherwise, we’d have white species of local hawks (as there has evolved a mostly white species of falcon, the Gyrfalcon, which thrives in the frozen north). Nonetheless, whiteness may not be as bad a quality for a hawk as it is for most other creatures — the ones that tend to get eaten.

Coming Up

“The Great Hudson River Excursion” with Bedford Audubon’s Walter Fowler and Peter Becker, Saturday, Feb.  6, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Carpool from Bylane Farm, 35 Todd Road, Goldens Bridge, reserve jebecker @ bedfordaudubon.org or 914-232-4806.  bedfordaudubon.org

Field Trip to Greenwich Point Park, Old Greenwich, with Bedford Audubon Naturalist Tait Johansson, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 8:45 a.m. to 1 p.m., reserve jebecker @ bedfordaudubon.org or 914-232-4806.  bedfordaudubon.org

Great Backyard Bird Count, open to all ages and skills, Feb. 12 to 15, www. birdcount.org.

Great Backyard Bird Count training session, with Ted Gilman, including walk, Saturday, Feb. 13, 1 to 2:30, Audubon Greenwich, 613 Riversville Road, 203- 869-5272 x230, Greenwich.audubon.org.

2010 Connecticut State of the Birds, with Connecticut Audubon biologist Twan Leenders, Thursday, Feb. 18, 7 p.m., free, Western Connecticut Bird Club, at Kensington Green, 655 Main Street, Southbury, klfischer2 @ sbcglobal.net.

Field Trip to Edith Read Sanctuary (Playland) and Marshlands Conservancy, Rye, with Bedford Audubon Naturalist Tait Johansson, Thursday, Feb. 25, 8:45 a.m. to 2 p.m., reserve jebecker @ bedfordaudubon.org or 914-232-4806.  bedfordaudubon.org

Saturday Morning Bird Walks with Luke Tiller, Feb. 13, Westport Hotspots; Feb. 20,  Stamford/Greenwich Hotspots; Feb. 27,Stratford/Milford Tour; to register, sunrisebirding.com/walks.htm; 203- 453-6724, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

First Sundays, birding at Greenwich Point with Meredith Sampson of Wild Wings, and other guides, 203-637-9822.

Copyright (c) 2010 by Jack Sanders. Send sightings or comments to: jackfsanders [at sign] yahoo.com, or to Bird Notes, Box 1019, Ridgefield, CT 06877; or call 203-438-1183, extension BIRD (2473), and leave a message with your report, spelling your first and last names and telling us your town. If you need help identifying a bird, try your local nature center. If you find an injured bird, call wildlife rehabilitator Darlene Wimbrow of Redding, 203-438-0618, Wildlife in Crisis of Weston, 203-544-9913, or Wild Wings of Greenwich, 203-637-9822. The columnist’s website is www. sandersbooks. com.

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