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Owl Baby Season - 10plus with more coming in very day!

Owl Baby Season

They are SO CUTE.  An adorable ball of fluff with those BIG EYES.

Unless of course, you are the unfortunate rodent or mammal that Mom or Dad Owl brings home for YOUR dinner. 

PLEASE do not pick up the baby owls if you find them on the ground.  More than likely Mom & Dad are nearby, watching over junior.   Most people don't know that bably owls are quite capable of walking back up the tree that their nest is in. So, it's best to leave them alone, and give everyone a lot of space.

UPDATE we are getting calls to rescue baby owls who, while on the ground exploring, are being found and captured by dogs.  This is a case were the owl DOES need to be rescued. The dog may not mean any harm, but owl may get injured.  So, do call SoarinHawk 260-241-0134 or other agencies listed on the RESCUE BUTTON

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Hoo’ wouldn’t love to have an Owl living in their backyard?

‘Hoo’ wouldn’t love to have an Owl living in their backyard?

Thank you all for a great response to this story!  We received offers from all over Allen County and Northern Indiana.

We were lucky that a family that lives very near where the bird was found in Northeast Fort Wayne was able to sponsor his new home. 

01232016-easo-1 Was released on 3/8/16.  He was adopted by Cindy and Stephen Rahn. “Happy”, as he was named, was placed by Dick Buchanan  in an owl box mounted in a tree in front of the Rahn’s house. About 18 people witnessed  his release.  This little guy, named "Happy" made the front page of the Journal Gazette metro section when he was released!

Check out the Journal Gazette:

http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/-11923393

Thank you again for interest and dedication to conservation of these magnificent birds-of-prey.

Thanks to the Northeast… more

Title : First Rescue, First Blood

Title : First Rescue, First Blood

Being his first rescue, Braeden Holle being a Soarin' Hawk volunteer, did not really know what to expect hearing previous stories. He thought he was going to rescue a Barred Owl, but instead it turned out to be a Great Horned Owl, too his surprise. The Owl appeared to be alright and alert, he used wire cutters to cut the net off from around the owl. The moment when everything was going as planned the owl wanted to say thank you and goodbye, and gave Braeden a nice laceration on the thumb, going right through his gloves and into his finger; Braeden was fine with that. Giving the owl a quick check up: looking over the wings for broken or fractured bones, eyes to check for injury, talons (which seemed to be working fine in Braeden's opinion), and giving him a healthy keel score, he determined the owl was ready to be released. The family thanked him for what he did, even calling him a professional, which Braeden thought was very kind… more

This little guy's death reminds all of us ...

Unfortunately this brave little Screech owl died overnight.  He was extremely thin, so starvation and dehydration was most likely the cause of his death.  You may wonder why we did not immediately feed him when he was admitted.  If a dehydrated, emaciated raptor is fed immediately upon arrival, it will develop what is called "refeeding syndrome".  It is a complex problem that also occurs in people and other animals.  Simply stated,it is a series of metabolic problems that can lead to death and develop as a result of giving food back to a starving patient.  It sounds counterintuitive to not give food when starvation is the issue, but dehydration and electrolyte imbalances typically go along with starvation.  

So the treatment for little guys like him is to rehydrate them first and then gradually reintroduce food. We begin with tube feeding a liquid diet (Oxbow Carnivore Care) then progress to meat without bone and eventually back to a whole prey diet.  Unfortunately… more

Lady Eagle Released Today

Lady Eagle Released Today

Read the full story at https://www.soarinhawk.org/birds/lady-eagle

Coopers Trapped on Porch, Rescued and Released

Pam from Soarin' Hawk Raptor Rehab in Fort Wayne came to our house to free a Cooper's hawk that found it's way in to our porch through a hole in our screen. He had apparently eaten a meal of a dove or some other similar bird. He acted injured and scared. We propped the door open, but he did not leave.

Watch until the end and you will see he was just fine.

Impact of Avian Influenza on Raptors

On January 14, 2016, a commercial turkey flock in Southwestern Indiana was diagnosed with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).  The strain that was identified, H7N8, is a strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza that is unique to Indiana and to the nation.  The CDC reports that the risk of illness in humans is very low.  

So what does that have to do with raptors?  In wild birds, HPAI has been found primarily in waterfowl.  Wild waterfowl typically do not get sick or die from HPAI, but they spread the virus in their feces. However, other species of wild birds, including raptors, can become ill and die from HPAI.  At Soarin' Hawk, we work with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and report any suspicious deaths of raptors.  They are sent for surveillance testing.   HPAI also effects our education programs : we are unable to take our education birds into any other state for programs due to HPAI being identified in Indiana.  HPAI also effects the… more

Screech Owl makes fast recovery and released to home territory.

Please go to https://www.soarinhawk.org/birds/Released%20Bird for the complete story on the amazing teen that rescued this owl.

Red-shouldered Hawk released after 12month recovery

On January 3rd, one of our volunteers released this red shouldered hawk on 80 acres of land with three wetlands, one pond, and a swamp. Prairie grass will be a great hunting ground and the deciduous trees and coniferous trees will make a great roost.  He will be able to hunt field mice, small birds, rabbits, and amphibians. She was able to observe him soaring and getting acquainted to his new home.  While watching over an hour, she was lucky enough to see him get his first meal of a field mouse!

This red-shouldered hawk had been in our care for over a year due to a presumed sickness from the West Nile Virus.  He physically recovered except for his feathers.  Each time he molted (naturally replaced) his flight feathers, they came in deformed and the feather was not healthy.  After many months, he finally began replacing old feathers with healthy, new feathers!  A hawk this size eats about 5 or 6 medium size mice per day. Over the course of his 12 month stay, he consumed $538… more

Pine Valley Veterinary Clinic

We are pleased to announce that Pine Valley Veterinary Clinic now provides medical services for Soarn' Hawk.   Look closely at the sign, and you will see that the  local raptors got the message and are kocking at the door!

http://www.pinevalleyvc.com/

https://www.facebook.com/PineValleyVC

 

Please return their generosity by ensuring that your pets are cared for by the fantasic team at Pine Valley Veterinary Clinic.

 

Slow Motion Video of Bald Eagle in Flight

This slow motion video captures the elegance and complexity of flight.  This was taken during a recent flight conditioning flight of a Bald Eagle in our care. 

Flying an Eagle

I have been a volunteer for the past 3½ years. During that time, we have had two Bald Eagles in rehab. Both were non-releasable. One went to Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City, Utah and the other went to Dollywood in Tennessee. We had one rescue where the eagle was so severely damaged that it had to be euthanized. But, now we have “Lady Eagle” who is a releasable Bald Eagle in rehab and is ready for conditioning. I received a phone call from Barbara Hathaway asking if I wanted to “fly” an Eagle. At first I was a little hesitant because of the size of the bird and I didn’t know if I had the strength to do it, but I thought “Why not? Give it a try!”

So, on an unseasonably warm December afternoon the team assembled. For many of us, this was our first opportunity to handle an eagle. Our veterinarian, Dr. Pat, gave us some instructions before we began: #1 When retrieving the bird, always take a second person with you to help fold in the wings. #2 Lift the bird by the jesses higher… more

Hawk Release, Nov 2015

There is no greater joy for us than releasing a now healthy and fully recovered bird back into the wild!
 

Red-tailed Hawk shot

Radiograph is of a red tail that has been shot.

It is against state and federal laws to shoot a raptor.  SHRR is required to report any raptor that has been shot, although it is very difficult to track down the perpetrator.

This bird was lucky.  Since just the ulna was broken and the radius is intact, the radius acts like a splint and keeps the ulna relatively stable until the ulna heals.  The wing is also wrapped to the bird's body to keep the fracture even more stable as it heals.  Daily physical therapy consists of unwrapping the wing, gently extending and flexing the wing several times to keep the ligaments and tendons from contracting and also to keep the ulna from healing to the radius as the fracture heals.

Birds' bones heal amazingly well.  After 3 weeks of keeping the wing wrapped, the bird is then placed in a small mew, an outside pen, that allows the bird to stretch its wings completely but limits its flying.  After a week or two in the… more

Three Orphaned Kestrels

Early this summer, we received 3 orphaned kestrels from the same location.  A gentleman found them one by one in the middle of his barn floor and could not find a nest to replace them in.  Unfortunately one suffered a broken leg and internal injuries in the long fall and didn’t survive.  The other two we took in and carefully raised them.  It is very important when we have orphans that they are raised with as little human contact as possible.  If they become imprinted or too acclimated to people, they cannot be released back into the wild.  So as tempting as it is to talk to and make over the babies, they must be fed in silence and even without them being able to see a human face.  We can't release a bird that thinks a human is its mother!

Unfortunately one of the babies developed an injury to her front middle toe which required amputation.  The front middle toe and their back toe on each foot are used for killing their prey.  So, unfortunately if they are missing… more

Tail Guards

If a raptor is put in a small cage (for a variety of reasons including rest for a broken bone, neurologic problems, illness such as West Nile Virus, infections, etc) it has a tendency to break its tail feathers or get them dirty.  A tail guard made of a light weight plastic, in this case an old x-ray, is custom made and taped to the tail to prevent damage to the tail.

A raptor cannot be released with broken tail feathers as the tail is necessary for maneuvering.  Nor can it be released with a number of broken or missing flight feathers, which are obviously needed for flight.  If flight or tail feathers are broken we can wait for new ones to naturally be replaced as they go through molts, but it may take a couple years.  Or we can replace the feathers with a process called imping.

Thanks to Dr. Natalie Houser and Danielle SeCheverell, RVT for putting a tail guard on this Red Tail

Hawk Release