20230902-Red-Tailed Hawk-2

Can you find the bird in this picture?  Look on the fence....

Sometimes they really blend in to their surroundings.  When I arrived he had moved a few feet to a more obvious location.

This strong Red Tail had that "I'm going to escape" look in its posture when I approached with the catch net.  Fortunately, he could not fly very well and I was able to catch up to him and net him in flight.  While extracting the bird from the net I noted a lot of badly singed feathers on one wing and part of the tail.  No wonder he flew poorly!  On examination at ICU no other injuries could be found.  Not even burns on his skin under the singed feathers.

This bird will be with us at Soarin Hawk for a long time, being fed and cleaned up after, until it goes thru a molt and gets new feathers to even up it's flight to prey catching speed.

--Rescuer Ross