Illinois Raptor Center Success Stories An unusual dark-morph red-tailed hawk gets a second chance Red-tailed hawks can come in a variety of color variations or "morphs." Normally, the tail of a mature red-tail is rusty red in color. That makes identification easy. This bird, however, sports a dark tail. See the picture at the bottom of the page that shows a hawk with an all-white tail! When it arrived at The Illinois Raptor Center, it was starving and full of parasites. Now completely healthy, it is ready for release and a second chance at life. The red-tailed hawk is nearly ready for release. This bird lacks the trademark rusty red tail feathers. He's not starving anymore. And now for something completely different! This red-tailed hawk sports a white tail. As you can see, the color variations can sometimes be confusing. Return to Success Stories | Return to Illinois Raptor Center Home Page For more about our Wildlife Hospital, click here.