When the weather turns cool and rainy, birds that were already potentially compromised and struggling in the wild end up in rehab if they’re lucky enough to be found by a Good Samaritan, even though their final outcomes may not be good. This was the case for three birds last week, as our weather went from 80s to 50s for daytime temps, accompanied by rainy, overcast conditions.
The first was an adult great horned owl whose left wing was badly broken, requiring euthanasia.
The first was an adult great horned owl whose left wing was badly broken, requiring euthanasia.
A few days later, a barred owl was found in the road, thinnish and somewhat lethargic, possibly concussed. He was found in time, however, and steady meals appear to be making the difference for him.
And yesterday, a mature male red tail came in, starvation-thin and weak. I was hopeful he’d also been found in time but sadly, he died overnight.
The falcon remains an unhappy camper who nonetheless inhales all she’s offered—no hunger strikes from this one!
And the screech’s right eye is pretty well trashed, as I suspected, but the swelling in the left eye finally went down and it’s perfectly normal looking, so he’ll go to the mini-pen next week to test his flight and food-finding capabilities for a week or so before calling his finder to take him back where he was found.
Even though the outcomes weren’t ideal for two of the birds last week, at least they didn’t die sitting wet and cold, shivering because their feathers’ waterproofing was compromised, and hungry. They were warm and had eaten at least a small meal before being euthanized/dying. Sometimes that’s all a rehabber can do: make sure the bird has as peaceful and painless a death as possible.
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