Great Horned Owl 18-077
Last week a wind storm destroyed the nest of a family of Great Horned Owls. One of the fuzzy owlets ended up on the ground a short distance from the nest tree. After checking out the youngster to make sure he was OK, it didn’t take long to locate the rest of his family: mom, dad and three siblings were perched in nearby trees.
We put the youngster in the same tree that one parent (on the left) and two siblings were perched. He will climb up and join them.
Red-tailed Hawk 18-078
Lucky is probably not an appropriate name for this Red-tailed Hawk, although he is lucky that someone found him after he had been shot. Can you find the seven shotgun pellets in the radiograph below? Hint: one of the pellets is shattered. There are two wing fractures, the left radius and the right ulna. The radius fracture has a reasonable chance of healing without complications. The ulna fracture is near the elbow. There is damage in the elbow and the wrist looks suspicious.
There are an additional four pellets in his legs. The left halux is fractured. Hopefully it will still be functional after the fracture heals. In addition to two broken wings and a broken leg, the hawk has a blood lead level of 14.6 micrograms/deciliter. He has completed one course of chlelation. We will retest the lead this week .
Update on Bald Eagle 18-006
The young Bald Eagle admitted with a super-high level of lead, 813 mcg/dl, is truly a miracle bird. She is out in the large flight pen and able to fly. She is on the low perch on the right in the photo below. She often perches next to the adult Bald Eagle on the left in the photo. It is only a matter of time before she joins the two Golden Eagles on the high perch.
