Here are a few of our inspiring stories of the birds we were able to help this year.
Mississippi Kite “Mikki”
On 5/27, we received a call from Nancy, a resident of Darnestown, MD, who had discovered a beautiful “hawk or falcon” in her backyard that was grounded. Our volunteer, Dr. Stacey, went to the rescue of what turned out to be neither a hawk nor a falcon, but our first ever Mississippi Kite! We learned the Kite was very painful in her right shoulder, and radiographs confirmed a fractured (right) coracoid, a major bone of the shoulder girdle. We wrapped the right wing to the body to immobilize it for proper healing, and periodically removed the wrap for physical therapy. “Miki” turned out to be a delightful, calm and cooperative patient who preferred a strict diet of nothing but Giant Mealworms! Her fracture healed beautifully and with physical therapy and exercise, she regained full flight. Miki was released back at her found location on August 7th and never looked back.
Broad-Wing Hawk “Yusty”
On April 13th, Megan rescued a Broad-winged hawk near Dollar General in Crespatown, MD and called Owl Moon for help. Our volunteer, Billy Rios, drove to Rocky Gap State Park to transport the beautiful hawk to Owl Moon. The bird was depressed and lying down but her problem did not become evident until we looked deep under the feathers and discovered bruising all over her underside, a symptom of internal bleeding caused by anti-coagulant rodenticide poisoning. Fortunately, because of everyone’s quick action, we could begin administering the antidote, Vitamin K, early enough to stop the bleeding, and ultimately save her life. She was released back near her found location by volunteer Kaleigh Keesee, in time to restart her nesting season, 19 days later. Please ask us about alternatives to rodenticides to reduce your rodent problems.
Great Horned Owl “Jenny”
On 4/1 a finder noticed this little nestling on the ground. Interestingly, Great Horned Owls do not make nests. They’ll steal the nests made by other raptors but if they can’t steal one, they will often lay their eggs in less than ideal places such as the crook of a tree. This can be dangerous for the nestlings who sometime fall to the ground. Such was the case for our first nestling of the year. The patient was immediately transported to Owl Moon for assessment. Aside from being slightly dehydrated, this little baby was uninjured. It’s always best for the parents to raise their young and time was of the essence. Volunteers at Owl Moon made a more suitable nest from a laundry basket and placed it back in the tree where the parents were able to resume care. The finder monitored the nest to make sure all was well and captured these beautiful photos of the nestling growing up.
