Colleague Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends once said that wildlife rehab was the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, often within hours of each other, and I’ve never heard anything truer. After regaling you with a fairly “high” week in last week’s update, I have to report the news isn’t as great this week.
Monday a gorgeous sharp-shinned hawk came in with a nasty open wing fracture right at the wrist. I don’t see a lot of sharpies—I think I saw all of two in 2019—and they’re magnificent birds, so I hate having to euthanize them, but there was no option for this fierce little raptor.
Monday a gorgeous sharp-shinned hawk came in with a nasty open wing fracture right at the wrist. I don’t see a lot of sharpies—I think I saw all of two in 2019—and they’re magnificent birds, so I hate having to euthanize them, but there was no option for this fierce little raptor.
The middle part of the week was quiet, with a barred owl coming in Saturday night with a massively broken leg. It was fractured at the knee and the hock, or ankle. This was not a fixable fracture, sadly, so the barred also required euthanasia.
Thus far in 2020 LWR has received eight birds, and six of them have required euthanasia. This is why rehabbers have a love-hate relationship with the “off season.” Yeah, we get a break from babies 24/7, but the flip side of that is that the majority of the intakes we see are mortally injured adults. Tain’t easy to deal with some days, lemme tell ya.
And today the Wheeler County Sheriff brought an absolutely stunning first-year red tail. Y’all know how I feel about red tails, and many of y’all share my adoration of these regal birds. This fellow has a fracture right at/in the elbow. And there’s a gaping hole there. No bone appears to be exposed, so it may be an additional injury, where the bird picked at the area causing pain, or perhaps an entry wound from a pellet. He’ll go in for x-rays tomorrow to see what, if anything, we can do for the fracture and to check for pellets, as well.
And today the Wheeler County Sheriff brought an absolutely stunning first-year red tail. Y’all know how I feel about red tails, and many of y’all share my adoration of these regal birds. This fellow has a fracture right at/in the elbow. And there’s a gaping hole there. No bone appears to be exposed, so it may be an additional injury, where the bird picked at the area causing pain, or perhaps an entry wound from a pellet. He’ll go in for x-rays tomorrow to see what, if anything, we can do for the fracture and to check for pellets, as well.
Meanwhile, the barred owl with the eye infection is holding the eye partially open most of the time now but the eye looks damaged. I suspect some vision impairment there but won’t know for sure till he goes into the raptor flight this week.
Sisyphus remains with me while we wait to finalize the paperwork for federal approval of the transfer; his new source of amusement is to pull off his jesses and anklets about every other day…
No new photos of the flyers again this week. They’re fully mature now and ready for release in early to mid-March. As a reminder, flyers remain with Mama in their cavity nest for five months, with fall babies usually overwintering with her for both shelter and her food cache. In rehab, we mimic that by overwintering the fall babies, as they have no cavities staked out for nests and no food cached for the winter. In March, as the weather moderates, they have decent conditions to stake out a nesting site and begin to store food for the fall and winter.
And finally, don’t forget that the Great Backyard Bird Count begins on Valentine’s Day this year: Feb. 14-17, Friday-Monday.
And finally, don’t forget that the Great Backyard Bird Count begins on Valentine’s Day this year: Feb. 14-17, Friday-Monday.
RSS Feed
