Albino Birds Not Unusual in This Area A report of someone seeing an albino bird in our area reaches us at least once or twice each year. Recently we were informed of a largely white hawk, apparently in pursuit of a pigeon, that had become naturally caught in a silo on Greg Smith's farm north of Sturgeon Bay. Even though the hawk became entrapped on February 10, it was not until the 12th that they were able to capture the bird and take it to the Animal Clinic of Sturgeon Bay for examination. Charlotte was able to drive down to see and photograph the captive, at first thought to be a Gyrfalcon. The general shape of the bird, and especially the tail containing some rusty-red color, convinced the observers that they were enjoying the company of a partial-albino Red-tailed Hawk. Careful examination of the bird by veterinarian Grant Olson revealed that the bird was in excellent condition. It was properly returned to Greg Smith's farm and released. Generally in most years Redtails don't winter north of the tension zone in Wisconsin, Door County being one of the few exceptions. The fascinating tension zone was determined by Dr. John Curtis of the University of Wisconsin Botany Department and deals with native plants. Plants that are common north of the tension zone do poorly in that zone as do plants south of the zone. In other words, the tension zone is slightly too far south for northern plants and somewhat too far north for southern plants. Professor Curtis' tension zone starts along Lake Michigan in the south, takes in most of Milwaukee County, heads slightly inland and northward through Washington County and includes most of Fond du Lac, Winnebago, Outagamie and Waupaca counties. It also includes all of Calumet County along the east side of Lake Winnebago. The zone levels off and heads westward through Portage, Wood, Jackson and Clark counties where it now turns northward through Eau Claire, northern Dunn County and ends at Polk County. Back to the Red-tailed Hawks-normally all young Redtails hatched in this region migrate south toward the Gulf of Mexico or thereabouts for the winter. Juveniles may remain in the area in the case that the winter is very mild and open resulting in plenty of mice, meadow voles and other small rodents and mammals, but in most winters they head for the South. If they do stay and there isn't enough food to go around, the adults will drive them out of the area. The adults, for the most part, remain in the state t hroughout the winter and by February are already paired and choosing nest sites. The Redtail that Charlotte saw and photographed appeared to be quite small. However, our hawk-expert friend, Tom Erdman of UW-Green Bay, informed us that not only is albinism fairly common in Redtails but that their size can vary considerably. In fact it is possible that, depending upon the size of the leg, one of seven different diameter bands may be used to identify these hawks. Albinism is fairly common in native birds of North America with there being observational records of some degree of albinism in 300+ species. The greatest numbers of albino birds reported have been the American Robin and the House Sparrow. Partial albino birds are far more common than are total albinos whereby all of the feathers are white, the eyes are either pink or red, and the feet, legs and bill are very pale or white. The eyes of partial albinos are their usual dark color, and only some of the feathers are white. Partial albinism is more common in darker birds, such as American robins, hawks, blackbirds and crows than it is in more colorful species such as orioles and cardinals. Birds including some gulls, geese, swans, and herons that are normally white are not considered to be albinos. Recently we observed a Black-capped Chickadee at our feeders for several consecutive days whose tail was mostly white. What fun it was to finally have one Chickadee, among perhaps as many as a dozen or more of the "regulars," that we could immediately identify. While reading about albino birds in one of my favorite books, "The Audubon Encyclopedia of Birds of North America" by John Terres, I learned that the sudden appearance of white feathers in some birds, that are dark under normal conditions, may be caused by shock, perhaps brought about by an injury or even a scary chase by a predator. Aging can also bring about some white feathers in birds. Back in the 1970's, when I was actively banding many birds, I re-trapped a Black-capped Chickadee that I had trapped and banded at least five or six years earlier and was intrigued by the large number of grayish-white feathers on its head. All I could believe was that, due to age, that little bird was turning gray - just like me! Our friend, Tom Erdman, had an unusually interesting experience in the past with a partial-albino Redtail that was largely white but had a distinctly dark eye. They observed that bird in the very same locality during three out of four winters. Tom's belief is that Redtails from the North migrate into this region and choose the same sites in which to winter. This is similar to some migratory songbirds, for example, that have been banded and found to return to the same habitats, such as specific backyards, in which to nest during consecutive summers. Albino birds are fascinating, dazzling creatures that add great interest to the sport of birdwatching. Also see: 11/02/99: November...A Time To Remember 12/03/99: Watching Cattle Egrets Can Make Good Comedy 04/23/99: Nature's Controls Soon to Grip Waterfowl Parents This column appeared in the Door County Advocate on 02/26/1999. © Copyright 1999 Roy Lukes. All rights reserved.