BWB is a term that ornithologists use when referring to the Big White Bird. A BWB has been spotted in the Hills Quarter area of Irvington. The first sighting occurred on December 6, 2004. Since then, two BWBs have been spotted at the same time. On one occasion, both BWBs were in the same tree.

Let’s back up and start at the beginning. We moved to Hills Quarter in November of last year. I was too busy unpacking to get a good glimpse of nature in our new neighborhood. However, on the morning of December 6th while I was walking the dog I spotted a large white bird in a mature pine tree. This was very near our new house. My first thought was “Hey, the snowy owl is back!!” Remember him?

I got my binoculars and studied the bird for a while. It is a tawny white with a rusty tail and a caramel colored head. The head/beak is that of a raptor. I spotted the BWB again late on the 11th of December. On the morning of the 12th, the bird was back again. This time I called BJ Norris and she came and was able to verify my sighting. Since the bird has some coloring it is not an albino. The term that is used is “leucistic”, meaning whitish, and some pigmentation may be present.

In talking to people at Hills Quarter, it turns out that the BWB has been around for quite some time. Tom Saunders reports that his son saw the BWB while working at Golden Eagle golf course. Tom thinks at least one of the birds may have been around since 2001!! Why didn’t someone tell Northern Neck Audubon?

The bird seems to be a buteo. The consensus leans to calling the birds red-tailed hawks. One of the birds is large for a red-tail. So we will keep studying and get more experts to view this phenomenon.

Can you identify me?
Photo is by Tom Norris.
Sighting at Hills Quarter, Kilmarmock, VA, Saturday, January 8, 2005, at about 11:15 a.m. by Tom Teeples.
Email potential identifications to BJ Norris
or Tom Teeples