Koyu was found by a falconer along a road near Huslia, Alaska, in late 2020 with an injury to her left eye. The falconer wanted to train her to hunt, but it seemed her vision impairment made it hard for her to hit her targets when hunting. When it became clear she wouldn’t be able to catch enough food to survive on her own, he contacted the Alaska Raptor Center, and Koyu joined our team of avian ambassadors.

Koyu is one of the most unique birds at the Alaska Raptor Center—and that’s saying something for a Red-tailed Hawk! She’s considered a light-morph Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawk, giving her a strikingly pale, almost white appearance that occurs in only about 8–12% of the population. Most Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawks, by contrast, are deep chocolate brown with mottled tails and very little red.