Two years was too long for one Wild ARC patient

On the evening of June 30, 2009, a young red-tailed hawk was found by a member of the public on a path near Christmas Hill.

The bird was a ‘brancher’ – meaning it was between the age of nestling (still in nest fed by parents) and fledgling (out of nest but still cared for by parents).

Not quite right, the bird was taken by the member of the public to the local animal emergency clinic for overnight care and it was transferred in the morning to Wild ARC.

The young female hawk was thin and dehydrated. Although one eye was very irritated, upon exam it was determined to be fine and in fact the bird had no other issues. She went through a course of fluid therapy to rehydrate her before slowly introducing food.

A local amateur falconer Jeff Krieger, with the help of the finder, tried to locate the nest of the parents in order to reunite her with her family, but they were unsuccessful.

Sadly this meant she would have a long road ahead in care to be ready for life on her own in the wild. To avoid imprinting on humans while at Wild ARC, she was transferred to a government-approved falconer’s facility in order to be raised by surrogate hawk parents and stepsiblings.

Unfortunately in care she broke multiple feathers necessary for flying so she could not be released in spring 2010, as it would take several months for these essential feathers to grow back.

With all new feathers but a rough winter ahead, it was best that she stay in care until spring 2011 and be continue to be trained at the centre.

A release date was set for late June 2011 – however the female hawk had another plan. After almost exactly 2 years in care on June 28, 2011, she decided that she was ready for freedom and escaped through a small hole in her enclosure.

She was spotted (because she was banded) throughout the summer on local properties as she had established her own hunting grounds. The last public report of her activities on October 27 said she was chasing snakes and quail in the area – doing just what a wild hawk does!

The BC SPCA is a non-profit organization funded primarily by public donations. Our mission is to prevent cruelty and to promote the welfare of animals through a wide range of services, including cruelty investigations, emergency rescue and treatment, sheltering and adoption of homeless and abused animals, humane education, advocacy, farm animal welfare, spay/neuter programs, and wildlife rescue and rehabilitation.