albino hawk

Two years ago I saw a big white bird soaring and hunting in a valley field below me. It was so big and white I thought it was an owl. My mother a bird person laughed at me and told, that there are no snow owls in Kentucky! She said I must have seen an ergot (is that right) or an heron.

Coming home through that patch of woods this past Friday there it was sitting in a low hanging branch of an oak. It was a white hawk. Not as white as two years ago - seemed some what a little dirty. BUT WHITE never the less.

Just wanted to share. I guess I will never be lucky enough to get a picture of it .
Located in Rockcastle, Kentucky - that is a little bit in the east - but mostly south central part of hte state.

It might be a red tail hawk. Hard to tale since it is an albino!

That's really neat Liquid!

Leucistic Red-tailed Hawks are fairly common around here. Most are not true albinos, but mostly white. Red-tails also tend to re-visit perching places frequently. You might be able to get a shot of him.

I'd love to see a photo of your hawk. Another birder in our area was able to get photos of one last year and we all keep watching for it to return, but so far no luck. Hope you get a chance to photograph your bird.

Thanks guys for you interest and your comments, because I really wanted to share. I will make an effort to get that shot - red dirt retiree (neat name). Thanks for the information!

Leucistic! just looked it up. I learned something today. I even saw someone photos from Indiania - looks just like mine. He said that it only showed up during the winter months. After thinking on this - yes that is what mine is doing too.

Again thanks for the information. Is it pronouced Loo sistic or luke istic or what?

This message was edited Feb 15, 2010 2:34 PM

Actually both pronunciation's are used so your choice. :)

"Is it pronouced Loo sistic or luke istic or what?"

Normally "luke istic" - being a Latin word, the 'c' is always pronounced like a 'k'.

Resin

Thanks,
For telling me how to pronouce it. I do not like being made fun of when I use a word. I like that it is Latin origin, very neat. Luke istic - sounds as magically as that big white hawk looked like!!!

The terms leucistic and leucism are derived from medical terminology. The prefix leuc- is the Latin variant of leuk- from the Greek leukos meaning "white" (see Steadman’s, Dorland’s or Taber’s medical dictionaries). The normal pronunciation is with a soft C sound (s sound), /l(j)uːˈsɪstɪk/,[6] though a more "authentic" pronunciation with a hard C (k sound) is also heard.

Wikpedia

Thanks Sandusky:

Hmmmm, I can't go wrong sounds like.
There are a lot of Latin words that have to do with color - I have noticed.

There are a lot of Latin words for red. Sounds like there might be a several words describing white.

Thanks for going to all the trouble to look this up for me. That was very nice.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/do/ecco.py/view_item?listid=1&listcatid=1&listitemid=6564&live=0 Check that guy out! :O They have a whole page of documentations of leucistic and albino animals from around the world.

Oh he is so neat looking!