An extremely rare, all-white bald eagle was spotted recently in Oklahoma, wildlife officials said.
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation on Tuesday shared footage of the bird taken last week by Justin Briley.
“Oklahoma seems to be a great place to spend the winter — especially if you’re an eagle,” officials said in a social media post.
Wildlife officials in February shared another photo of an all-white eagle, KOKI-TV reported. Authorities could not say whether the eagle, spotted in the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge near Vian, Oklahoma, was the same one seen by Briley.
Briley told USA Today that he saw the eagle eating an armadillo carcass alongside some turkey vultures as he was returning home for Thanksgiving last week. He realized when he zoomed in on the photos that the bird was not another turkey vulture and was instead a bald eagle.
He declined to share where he found the bird, citing concerns for its safety.
“With a bird that rare — if everyone knows where it is — it’s going to attract a lot of people,” he told USA Today.
Wildlife officials said the eagle’s unusual coloring is caused by a genetic condition called leucism, which prevents pigments from reaching its feathers.
©2022 Cox Media Group
