Leucistic Redtail in Helena Valley

In January, I wrote about a leucistic red-tailed hawk that was present in the Helena Valley since last summer. This bird was on the "spooky" side and I had not been able to get any very good images of it when I first sighted it in January. The landowner and birder who first reported this unusual bird called last week to report that she had found a nest that this white hawk and a partner had been attending. So yesterday, I accompanied her - Marsha - to take a look.

Marsha had been doing her homework and noted that the white hawk was smaller than the other pair member so was likely a male bird. The birds were around the nest but not especially attendant to it, so perhaps they were not yet incubating or maybe there were no eggs at all. The nest itself was a bit disheveled and perhaps had been damaged by the strong winds of the past week. Whatever the case, it was a great day to be outside looking at such a beautiful bird. We first spotted it soaring quite high in the mostly calm air.As it circled, the sun through its wings highlighted the mostly pure white primaries. About 5 of the tail feathers were mostly light red, more so than I recalled from my first sighting of the bird. And the under wing coverts showed some pigment to go along with the darkish throat patch. What a beautiful bird it is! The partner and apparent female of the pair was obviously larger when the two were seen soaring near each other. It was pretty much a typically plumaged western redtail.

As we watched these birds soaring, several other raptors came by and our white bird initiated some interaction with them, perhaps in defense of the nest site. These included a Rough-legged Hawk, heading north to its breeding grounds in Canada/Alaska. And then there was a Cooper's Hawk, the only raptor of the day smaller than the white bird. A sub-adult bald eagle also drew a little action from same. But several turkey vultures soaring in the vicinity of this probable male white redtail seemed to be ignored, perhaps because they had been frequenting the area for a number of days! We did get a few dorsal views of the bird, and the only pigmented feathers apparent in that view were the tail feathers. This gorgeous white redtail remained soaring quite high in the air while we watched, so I never did get high quality images of it, but this anomaly of nature sure was quite a sight.

Thanks Marsha for sharing this great find of yours!