20171108-Red-tailed Hawk

On 11/8/2017 Soarin' Hawk received a call from a gentleman in New Haven.  He noticed a bird lying in a ditch near his home.  As he moved closer to check him out, he realized it was unable to fly away as he approached him. Rather than ignore the bird and go about his business, he took the time to contact Soarin' Hawk to report the injury and asked for someone to come help this beautiful creature. One of our volunteers drove to New Haven to rescue this bird which turned out to be a red-tailed hawk.  Red-tailed hawks are very common in our neck of the woods; I'm sure many of you have seen them sitting on the telephone poles, overhead wires or fences as you are driving by. Judging from the stripes on the bird's tail, we knew that it was a juvenile, and a very thin one at that.  The bird had some swelling in his left wrist, which most likely made it difficult to fly and hunt for food, resulting in dehydration and emaciation.  Once back at our newly built ICU, we did a thorough physical exam, followed by x-rays.  Fortunately, there was no fracture - just a soft tissue injury.  After being treated with pain medication and a healthy diet to regain some of the weight he lost, he went through physical therapy that we call creance flying, to strengthen his flight muscles.  We've had this bird for almost six months.  Depending on their injuries, some birds can be released within a few weeks; others, like this guy, take longer.  If we feel a bird has a chance at being rehabilitated and released, we will do everything within our power to achieve that goal.