Leucistic Red-Tailed Hawk is a photograph by Phyllis Taylor which was uploaded on July 29th, 2017.
Leucistic Red-Tailed Hawk
Red-tailed hawks are the most common raptor in North America and can be seen almost any day along the highways or in the fields. A much less common... more
Title
Leucistic Red-Tailed Hawk
Artist
Phyllis Taylor
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Red-tailed hawks are the most common raptor in North America and can be seen almost any day along the highways or in the fields. A much less common sighting is a leucistic Red-tailed Hawk. Leucism is a genetic condition in which parts or all of an animal's body surface lack cells capable of producing any type of pigment. You may be familiar with Piebald horses, known for their splotchy "paint" pattern. These horses are actually leucistic!
Leucism is similar to albinism however, albinos lack the ability to create melanin, one specific type of pigment. Leucistic individuals usually have normal eye color, unlike albinos, which generally have red eyes.
Because the frequency of leucism in a given species is dependent on the population size, it's not surprising that there is a relatively high occurrence of leucistic Red-tailed Hawks.
Uploaded
July 29th, 2017
More from Phyllis Taylor
Comments (61)
Recently Viewed
