Leucitic Red-tailed hawk...2004, Westminster, Adams(?) County

[Paula Hansley]

CObirders:

I have a print on paper dated "2004" made from a slide I took of this leucistic red-tailed hawk near Sheridan and 104th! I know it had been seen for some years before I took that picture.  {I'll post the picture for comparison as soon as I find the digital version.}

So, it appears that he is at least 21 years old!  He has successfully mated with "normally plumaged" Red-tailed females for years.  I don't know if he is still nesting.

He was hit on purpose by golfers at the Legacy Ridge Golf Course and was rehabbed with a broken (?) wing at the Birds of Prey Foundation in Broomfield at least 10 (?) years ago.  

I've heard that some think he could be as old as 30.  

According to Google:  "The oldest known wild Red-tailed Hawk was at least 30 years, 8 months old when it was found in Michigan in 2011, the same state where it had been banded in 1981".  Other sources say that they rarely live beyond 20  years.

Paula Hansley

Louisville