By Bret Stedman, Operations Manager
On the afternoon of October 12, 2017 a UC Davis groundskeeper came to the California Raptor Center (CRC) to report an injured hawk on the UC Davis campus. The bird was in a tree at the Arboretum oak grove, near the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH).
I went to the site with Raptor Center volunteers Julie Cotton and Ross Lewin to evaluate the situation. The bird in question was a red-tailed hawk now about 40 feet up in a large oak tree. Because of its juvenile plumage we could tell that this bird was hatched in the spring of 2017 and, given its large size, we could also tell that it was a female. In most birds of prey females are larger than males and this bird weighed about 1504 grams in good condition which is a weight only reached by female Red-Tailed hawks in this part of the country.
It would be extremely difficult and very dangerous to climb to the bird so we called John McKnight, who works as an arborist for UC Davis Facilities. John arrived on scene in his boom truck. This large truck has a boom that can extend high into the trees and on the end of the boom is a large bucket in which a person can stand and trim trees or rescue injured raptors, as the case may be. John has used this vehicle, and his expertise, to help us rescue several other injured birds of prey and he has always been incredibly generous and willing to help at any time.
After watching the bird and trying to get close to it with the boom it was apparent that it was mobile enough to move away from our attempts to catch it. We decided to wait until full darkness that evening before approaching the bird again. Hawks don’t see well at night and are much more likely to hold their position if disturbed than they would be in daylight. Our goal was to move slowly and quietly in the boom until the bird could be caught by hand from its perch. There is always a sense of euphoria and accomplishment when one of these difficult rescues works out and this capture went just as planned. The hawk was safely removed from the tree and taken to the VMTH for evaluation.
After a physical examination, bloodwork, and radiographs, it was determined that this red-tailed hawk was in good health except for a fracture to its left coracoid bone. The coracoid bone in a bird connects the sternum to the shoulder joint complex. The fracture prevented all but very minimal flight in this bird so treatment was necessary to restore normal flight and a chance for release to this otherwise healthy hawk.
The fracture was a relatively minor one and treatment consisted of medications for pain and inflammation and about 2 ½ weeks of cage rest in a confined hospital cage at the CRC. Then the bird was moved to an outside cage to start using the wing normally. After one week more the fracture was radiographed again and it was determined that the break was healed well and flight testing could begin.
The bird was put into a large flight cage for exercise and flown on a creance line for conditioning and flight evaluation. Our creance line technique is a fishing pole that I handle with 140 yards of high strength fishing line to which we attach the bird. The bird is attached to the line by leather straps around its legs (called jesses) and the technique is very safe. It can fly well over 100 yards at a time which allows us to evaluate the quality of its flight and its strength and cardiovascular condition. The hawk had not lost much stamina or strength and after a few days of creance flying it was ready for release.
This beautiful red-tailed hawk was released at the CRC on November 9, 2017 and she flew off very well toward what we hope will be a long and healthy life.