Albinos are very rare and seem to be virtually unknown in the West. There have been numerous records of wholly white individuals from the East, and partial albinos are frequently reported. In 1960 some friends and I succeeded in trapping an all-white red-tail near my home in southwestern Ohio. The entire plumage was white, although quite soiled and in worn condition. Feather lice of the Mallophaga group were present in abnormal numbers and appeared to have caused this damage. All exposed fleshy parts, including cere, feet, gape and eyelid rims were rich yellow. Talons and mandibles were light pinkish. Irises were whitish, tinged with pale yellow; retina was dark. The bird molted normally and all new feathers were immaculate. No other change in appearance was noted. Vision was excellent and voice normal.

There seems to be no other detailed description of an albino hawk in the literature, except that of a white red-shouldered hawk studied by Dr. Heinz Meng. This bird was found in a nest at Woodstock, New York, in 1952 and raised in captivity by Meng. Coloration was identical to that of the white red-tail, except for pale blue irises. It is interesting to note that both these birds lived less than 3 years in captivity. Both contracted fatal respiratory diseases, a rare cause of death in normal buteos.

In the wild state the red-tailed hawk is a very hardy species and where sufficient food is available it is unlikely to become infected. Captive red-tails are similarly hardy and are more easily kept alive in zoos for long periods than most other birds of prey. Coccidiosis seems to be one disease that is more readily contracted if the bird is fed infected poultry, or is kept in a place where these fowl were housed. The sick hawk is readily cured by prompt treatment involving the use of antibiotics.

External parasites are usually harbored in small numbers. These include feather lice, and the blood-sucking Hippoboscid flies. There is one authenticated case of tularemia having caused the death of a wild red-tail. In general, there is still much to be learned about diseases and parasites of this hawk.

Most large predators, including red-tailed hawks, are not averse to killing chickens when hard pressed for food. This unfortunate habit has earned the misnomer "chicken hawk" for red-tails in some areas. Even today, there remain a surprising number of people who refer to all hawks by this name.

It must be pointed out that chicken killing is not a universal habit of all red-tails-or any other predator for that matter. When encountered, it is almost invariably being done by a young bird on the verge of starvation, making a last-ditch effort to survive; or a very old bird unable to compete any longer with its adult fellows.

Where free-ranging poultry roams at large over the hunting domain of red-tails, some loss is bound to occur. But modern methods of production, in which the birds are pen-raised, eliminate such loss. Domestic fowl that do not venture away from the farmyard are relatively safe from red-tails, even hungry ones.

My own experience with red-tails in Ohio gives the adult birds a clean record, and I know of only a handful of cases in which the young hawks have been guilty of poaching. I have periodically checked upwards of 100 red-tail nests and have yet to find a chicken feather in one. All these nests, it must be pointed out, were located in what I consider good habitat, with sufficient natural food to sustain the birds. Poultry was available near many nests but was not taken.

The general attitude of farmers in this area varies between total in difference, to affirmative enthusiasm about the presence of red-tails in their woodlots. Few condemn the species outright any more, and many are outspoken in their praise of the hawk's mouse-catching ability.

In bygone years, it was the custom of biologists to educate the public about hawks through presentation of charts and tables that listed the feeding habits of various species of hawks. The birds were judged purely on the basis of their economic importance to man and were labeled good, bad, or harmless, according to the economic importance of the prey upon which they fed.

The feeding chart was the first step forward, but has long since outlived its usefulness. At best, the chart showed only the last meals of the birds examined. Many, if not most, of the hawks collected for these studies were obtained during fall or winter and were largely young ones, less wary and more easily killed with a shotgun. Their stomach contents were taken as prima facie evidence of a kill. But since red-tails frequent areas where bunting pressure by man leaves many crippled pheasants and rabbits, and since wintering birds are not averse to dining on fresh roadside casualties, the biologists' tables and charts were filled with error. Without these studies, however, we could not have progressed to our present level of understanding and educational methods; so the laborious work of these men must be recognized as an important contribution.

Today, we know that the red-tailed hawk is neither good nor bad in its own community; it is necessary in its role of helping to keep in check the numbers of lesser creatures. The unfit are continuously weeded out through predation, thereby assuring a healthy breeding stock. The predator itself is controlled by the numbers of its prey, and could not survive if it depleted the breeding stock. Individual predators are often in the process of themselves being eliminated by starvation. Domestic fowl in these cases give them a new, but only temporary, lease on life. Just as with other animals, hawks produce surpluses too, and the excess must be removed. It is very important that this occur naturally. The survivors of natural elimination will be those individuals best fitted in every way to carry on the species, the best assurance we can have that red-tails will grace our skies in the future.