OT:Found and injured Hawk or falcon

[Sk8r]

He may end up doing educational work with schoolkids.

Mine---I hesitate to say my hawk, since no one owns birds like that---was a shoulder-pet, and gave me a pierced ear before it was fashionable. He would bate and terrorize people he didn't recognize, but he'd settle and fold his wings for me, running up my arm like a parrot, so they're not stupid birds, and know where their chicken comes from. I was increasingly worried about him: I read books and tried to find out all I could---I was a hs senior---and luckily and by study I did all the right things to get him healed up and flying. But he trusted people too much, which was the downside, and I knew he'd be in trouble. You might think I was sad to turn him over to a falconer, but the feeling these big birds give is such that you just know they're in trouble in any other situation but the hands of somebody who understands them and deals with them as the beautiful predator they are, and they're a heavy responsibility, requiring a lot of care. I was glad to know he was going to be all right, and he would, though flighted, get to teach other people about his kind.

 

[Lo0seR]

Dont go the Zoo route, they cant take anything in, it's a "USDA" thing, but if you talk to anyone in the bird dept. there they will point you in the right direction. To be honest there are so many places he can go you wont have a hard time finding a place for him at all. Just call your local animal control in Santa Ana or OC and they will for sure point you in the right direction. If you want to feed him right away go to your local reptile store and get him some baby pink's, he will be all over that stuff. Nice save!!! Your karma will now be good, bird saver.

 

[NicoleC]

Thanks for helping this beautiful boy out, Mario!

 

[therealw00]

I just wanted to chime in and add some things.

I work at the Santa Ana Zoo and people drop animals off all the time, and 99.9% of the time we do not keep them. The USDA has nothing to do with our ability to accept or reject an injured animal. The only relevant USDA permit we maintain is an an exhibitor permit. In order to accept an injured bird of prey you need a USFWS special purpose rehabilitation permit, which we maintain. Dogs, cats, rabbits, etc. all are sent to the local animal control. If a bird of prey gets dropped off we send it to the Orange County Bird of Prey Center in Lake Forest, it is a great place for injured birds. Animal control will probably send it there, or a place like it. No "dump-offs" are ever in close proximity to the permanent collection and any animal that will become part of the collection is required to go through a mandatory 30 day quarantine period.

The best possible thing you can do with an injured raptor is to put it in a cardboard box, close the box and put it in a bathroom with the light off, don't keep checking it, just leave it alone in the dark and get it to a bird of prey rehab center ASAP. If it is a young bird and you are constantly around it, you can very easily "imprint" the bird and make it non-releaseable in the future, if it is an adult you will just cause undue stress. Most of all don't try to rehab it yourself, I have seen several birds that people tried to rehab themselves and it almost always turns out badly.

Orange County Bird of Prey Center
23352 El Perro Street
Lake Forest, CA 92630
(949) 837-0756

 

[shilo_1]

Its a juvenile Coopers Hawk.....and FYI, they don't eat bird seed (at least thats what it looks like in the pic.)

therealw00 is absolutely correct - cover the crate it is in with a towel and put it in a dark and quiet room and don't bother it until you get it to a rehab place. Get it to a rehabber ASAP !!!!!!!
If you cannot find a rehabber...ANY REHABBER....contact your local Department of Fish and Wildlife. If you keep this bird in your possession you will be in a LOT of trouble - it is highly illegal ! Authorities do not care if you were trying to do the right thing - from their point of view, you could have caught the bird...they really don't know.

I am a licenced falconer, and do it professionally for a living, so I know what I'm talking about.

Please, for the birds sake, get it to someone who can save it. Their metabolisms are extremely high, and they can burn through their food in no time (a day or two), thus killing them.

 

[NicoleC]

Good information.

Since Animal Control already picked the bird up, I suspect they took it to the same place.

 

[Mchava]

shilo_1 the bird seeds was my dads idea. I told him that they only eat birds or other animals. We did give him a piece of raw chiken and it was eating. The bird is now in good care. I talked to the animal control person yesterday and she said that it wen to the Lake Forest place as well. Here is the thing when I called them they did not want to take it in which was realy wierd. Any way its in good hads now. On the same note it appeard that my house if getting visited by two more hawks. I saw two of them in our orange try just watching for prey.

 

[NicoleC]

Possibly the parents? I am not sure if raptors are as attentive to babies as other birds are, but I would think if anything they would be more so. Bird parents will hang around an injured fledgling as long as possible, trying to get it into the bushes, etc. where it has a better chance of hiding and recouperating.

Hawks are great to have around if you have a rodent problem -- not so good if you are trying to attract songbirds!

 

[shilo_1]

Raptors are by no means social creatures. They don't feel the need to be around anyone or anything else, be it human or parents. Young raptors are usually fully grown and self sufficient by around 30 days after hatching, and normally head out on their own. Owls are the only ones that usually hang out around their parents for approx. a year.

Glad to hear its now is safe hands.

You will start seeing more and more raptors, as its getting to be migration time for a lot of them.

 

[laverda]

Mchava Good job!

 

[phender]

We have a trio of juvenile Cooper's hawks that have been hanging around our area for the past few months. I had seen adults before but it took me a while to ID the juveniles.

Way to go Mario.

 

[Mchava]

Thanks everyone, just doing my part to help all living creatures.