I was standing in the back yard one recent afternoon when I saw a red-tailed hawk spiraling overhead. Then I noticed the underside of the bird was completely white.
White?
I did a double-take. Red-tailed hawks do have white on their chests, but it’s mottled with brown. And there are various patterns and shades of brown and white on the underside of their wings, tail and head. The tail, in particular, is a distinct reddish brown, which gives the bird its name.
But this hawk was solid white, including the tail.
Could it be an osprey? They’re whiter than hawks but still have plenty of brown.
No, this was a hawk, and the large body and wings and fanned-out tail had the look of a red-tailed.
I dashed inside for a pair of binoculars. But by the time I got back out, the hawk was gone.
Later I contacted ornithologist Nick Winstead of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science. He wasn’t that surprised and suggested three possibilities of white red-tailed hawk: leucistic, Krider’s and albino.
“An albino has a complete lack of pigment,” Winstead said. “Leucistic can produce some pigment.”
Krider’s is a subspecies of red-tailed hawk. “They’re just a lighter plumage than typical red-tailed hawks,” Winstead said.
“We do in our collection have some leucistic hawks. Leucistic have a range of whiteness,” he said, noting they can be almost all white or just partially so.
While Krider’s are lighter on the underside, they do have some pigment in the tail and a “necklace” of dark feathers on the breast.
The Krider’s is brownish on the back but not as much as a red-tailed. Leucistics are mostly white on top and bottom. Albinos, of course, are completely white.
Winstead has seen a Krider’s in the wild but not a leucistic or albino. He’s also seen a leucistic vulture, by the way.
I looked at photos of all three online and can’t say for sure which type I had seen, especially since I didn’t have a chance to study the bird closely.
That didn’t surprise Winstead.
“If they don’t have the normal colors it can be hard to tell what you’re looking at,” he said.
Regardless, it’s the first time I’ve ever seen a white red-tailed hawk, period, so to me it’s a big deal. Nor have I talked to anyone else who’s ever seen one, including people who work outdoors.
I’m keeping my eye peeled to see if the hawk shows back up, but Winstead pointed out, “A lot of the hawks we get here in the winter months migrate.”
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Meanwhile, I got a call from a friend who ran across some unusual animal tracks on his property. He thought they might be bear tracks; his wife suggested panther.
I went to take a look.
Their place is out in the country east of McComb along a busy road. Some of the tracks were in a muddy ditch by the road, others in the soft dirt by a pond. The biggest was 51⁄4 by 41⁄3 inches long.
My conclusion: dog. Big dog.
Bear tracks have five toes in a slightly arcing line. These had four toes. Also, the front foot of a bear has a wide pad, while the rear is wide and long as it includes the imprint of the heel.
Panther tracks are round and rarely show claw marks. The heel pad has three lobes on the back and two on the front.
Canine tracks are oval — longer than they are wide — with toenail marks. The heel pad has two lobes on the back and one on the front.
Also, the front two toes of a canine are side by side, while a cat’s are offset slightly.
Deep mud distorts and enlarges any track. Think of the times you’ve seen a gigantic deer track in deep mud or sand. Same is true for a dog. And if you’ve got a big dog, the track can look enormous.
My friend’s wife said she didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed.
Look on the bright side: No bear to raid garbage cans or garden. No panther to eat chickens or pets.
