Incoming!

Multiple “incomings,” actually—last week was bookended with intakes. It’s that time of year!

On Monday, a gorgeous little broad-wing hawk came in from Treutlen County after being found by the roadside. I see so few broadies and this one was so small that I actually had to ask colleague Kathryn Dudeck at CNC to confirm that was what I had. He’s quite melodramatic, as y’all can clearly see below. He has what my vets and I call ADR—ain’t doin’ right. Nothing’s broken; his throat, nares and eyes are clear…but he refuses to self-feed, not mice or coturnix quail. Figuring he might just be ready for release after a few days of force-feedings—which are incredibly stressful for an adult bird—I tried to release him Friday. He sat on the glove.  I turned my hand up and down and sideways. He sat on the glove. I raised and lowered my arm. He sat on the glove. I walked around. He sat on the glove. I lowered my hand to my side. He clung to the glove. Needless to say, we did not manage a release, but I worry that the stress of force-feeding could result in his death, so we’ll keep trying.

The broadie was followed, also on Monday, by a red shoulder who’d been rescued from an attack by another hawk in Bleckley County. His rescuer drove off the attacking hawk and called a friend who transports for Georgia Wildlife Network, a statewide volunteer transport group. She retrieved the bird and got it to LWR ASAP. He’d had the crap beaten out of him, poor baby; his head was plucked nearly bald and both eyes were swollen shut. I had little hope he’d survive the night, but he was standing with his head tucked Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, by that afternoon, he’d died, most likely from internal injuries.

On Friday, a falconer from Coffee County called; a neighbor was clearcutting some property and one of the trees they cut down had a nest with two red shoulders in it. They’d seen adult hawks flying around after the tree was felled, but since there were now no trees to attach a makeshift nest to, there was no safe place to leave the near-branchers for the parents to continue raising. The younger of the two is a voracious and eager eater; the older sustained slight beak damage that makes it difficult—and probably not a little painful—to eat, so he’s being hand-fed.

Hot on the heels of the call about these two, a call came from Putnam County about another young hawk, a red tail, that had fallen about 45 feet from the nest. She has some slight dings on her head, but nothing is broken. And here’s one of the many reasons I adore red tails—their sheer intelligence. She was hungry and vocal about it on intake. First offered morsel—nope. Had to hand feed. Second offered morsel—less reluctance but still hand fed. Third morsel—“gimme that food NOW!” She’s got quite the appetite!

The poor screech from last week didn’t survive.  After 24 hours I offered him a mouse, which I thought he’d eaten, but he was perching on the side of his donut so that his tail feathers covered it. And within another 24 hours, he died, without ever fully opening his eyes. Again, this was most likely internal injuries—recall that he was hit by car.

The Ware County barred was released, but he hauled tail so quickly that I was unable to get a release video.

The first-year red tail is still showing no signs of flight. Now that the “inn” is filling up, he’s under a bit more pressure to show some significant progress, and soon.

And all the brancher barreds are in the mini-pen and doing quite well together. The two less-dominant ones like to hide behind the more aggressive one, but all three engage in serious beak-snapping when I go in to feed them. Such clowns…