There is an albino or albinistic(sp) hawk near Grand Coulee. It has
been in the area for about 2 months on private property. We were
informed of its presence monday (by the property owner) and went
looking for it. We spotted it tuesday from a distance of about 3/4
mile and yesterday I got some photos from about 150 feet away. Won't
get photos back until the 26th.

Description:

Pure white feathers. The lighting was not good and there is a chance
the under side of the tail feathers may have a little color, or it
might have been a shadow. The upper and lower mandible is white and
the cere is pinkish. The eyes are very dark. I could not see the legs
since the bird was perched in the top of a pine tree. When it flew I
was so awe struck just watching it that I forgot to observe the leg
color and if the feathers went down to the toes. At this point I am
not sure if it is a RED-TAILED or a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK. The top of the
head did seem more rounded then that of a RTHA. Maybe it was just
having a bad feather day. :-)

I didn't realize how much I depended on color and color pattern to ID
a species.

We don't want to wear out our welcome, so will wait until tomorrow to
try and observe the bird again. Maybe the weather will be better.

Other then the beak of the RTHA being larger, does anyone have any
suggestions to help with the ID?

Thanks

Jerry and Sandy Converse
Grand Coulee, WA
mailto:sanjer at televar.com

http://ConverseCorner.com

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember, amateurs built the Ark and
Professionals built the Titanic.