Sam Fried Sam FriedSam Fried has seen and photographed almost all North American birds. Meet Sam Previous Answers

Well, Bill, I hope this doesn't disappoint you, but what you did see Was a red-tailed hawk, and was an almost complete albino!

Albinism occurs relatively frequently in red-tails and some people even make a career chasing after them (a recent article in Bird Watcher's Digest chronicled the efforts a couple of birders made finding albino red-tailed hawks). I once saw one in winter, soaring over a field in upstate New York and my first thought was “white morph gyrfalcon”. As soon as the bird started to hover, however, and act like a red-tail, I knew that's what I was looking at.

Complete albinism in birds, when the feathers, skin and eyes are all without pigment, is very rare. In such cases, the eyes are usually red or pink and the legs, feet and bill are white or very pale. It is extremely difficult for such birds to survive in the wild because they tend to stand out as prey, lacking any natural camouflage. Even an albino red-tailed hawk would be much more visible at night and subject to predation by great horned owls.

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