Leucistic barred owl in Missouri

Leucistic barred owl seen in Montana

These images were sent to us by Kristy Rice, of Excelsior Springs, Missouri. She says "This is a Barred Owl seen in Watkins Mill State Park in Kearney. We have spotted this owl quite often since, but I wish I had better pictures."

Barred owls are found across Canada, the eastern United States, and south to Central America; in recent years it has spread to the western United States.  It has a pale face with dark rings around the eyes, a yellow beak and brown eyes

Leucism is a very unusual condition whereby the pigmentation cells in an animal or bird fail to develop properly. This can result in unusual white patches appearing on the animal, or, more rarely, completely white creatures.

Click here to see our gallery of albino and leucistic animals and birds.