Rare colored red-tailed hawk found covered in oil in Pennsylvania

Story by Brian Whipkey and Camille Fine,
USA TODAY NETWORK • Yesterday

Mercersburg, Pa. — A Pennsylvania game warden who helped to save an injured bald eagle found coated in oil actually found another bird with a rare condition.

As it turns out, the tannish-white bird wasn’t an eagle — it was a leucistic red-tailed hawk, which means its plumage lacks melanin and pigmentation to provide color in its feathers.

Leucism — which can be discerned from albinism because it does not affect eyes' pigment

cells — causes white coloration, white patches, spots, or splotches on the skin or fur, according to the National Park Service.

As a result, the hawk’s feathers are mostly white as opposed to the typical brown and dark red commonly found on red-tailed hawks.

Red-tailed hawks, which can stand about 2 feet tall and have a wingspan about twice that wide, are believed to be plentiful in Pennsylvania, but this condition is rare.

Philip Bietsch, the Pennsylvania Game Commission warden that learned of the young bald eagle on March 25, said the bird had apparently been sitting along a creek in Mercersburg, near the southern border of the state, for a couple of days and hadn’t moved from that location.

“It’s definitely the first one I’ve seen,” he said.

Bietsch was called to assess the bird's condition after someone who thought it was sick or injured captured the bird and took it home. A lubricant that seemed lighter than car oil coated many of the bird's feathers.

The bird was showing some signs of malnourishment and was probably unable to eat for a few days, Bietsch said.

The Raven Ridge Wildlife Center in Lancaster County where Bietsch took the bird for treatment said it was actually covered in a "cooking" oil substance, which matted its feathers and prevented her from flying.

After a much-needed and thorough cleaning, the center will keep the hawk for observation before releasing it back into the wild.

Bietsch, who recently spoke with the bird’s caregiver, said the raptor is becoming aggressive again, “which is a really good sign" for re-release.

Where did the oil come from?

Bietsch isn’t sure where the oil came from but said the agency hasn’t received any additional reports of oil or injured wildlife in that area.

What to do if you find an animal

If an injured animal or bird is discovered, call the agency’s statewide dispatch center at 833-742-4868.

Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania.