Family finds rare all-white raptor unable to fly near Missouri home, officials say
A “rare” raptor with all-white coloration due to pigmentation loss is being rehabilitated after it was found injured on a family’s property, wildlife officials said.
A Fredericktown family reported that the locally beloved bird – a leucistic red-tailed hawk – was on their property and unable to fly, according to a Feb. 11 Facebook post from the Missouri Department of Conservation.
The hawk was safely captured by a Madison County conservation agent and taken to the University of Missouri’s raptor rehabilitation facility, officials said.
Many residents around Madison County shared pictures and stories of their sighting of the piebald raptor and others like it on the department’s Facebook post.
“This bird has spent a lot of time around my family’s place,” one person commented. “He was always vocal and beautiful! I started naming him Sky because he would blend in so well with the the clouds!”
“I’ve been seeing that hawk out in Wentzville for the last 3 years,” another person said.
“It’s our white hawk getting well from its injury,” one resident said, sharing the department’s post.
According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, leucistic animals, also referred to as piebald or pied, have a “partial loss of pigmentation in an animal resulting in white, pale, or patchy coloration of the skin, hair, feathers, scales or cuticle, but not the eyes.”
“Unlike albinism, it is caused by a reduction in multiple types of pigment, not just melanin,” experts said.
The hawk is expected to fully recover and will be released at the site it was found, the Missouri Department of Conservation said.
Fredericktown is about a 90-mile drive south from St. Louis.
This story was originally published February 12, 2025 at 8:22 AM with the headline "Family finds rare all-white raptor unable to fly near Missouri home, officials say."
