Electrocution, a common cause of injury in birds of prey…
This juvenile red-tailed hawk was seen by passers-by as he landed on a telephone pole. After accidentally touching his wing tips to both wires, the bird fell to the ground. The concerned citizen immediately called the Nature Center for help. The hawk was captured and quickly transferred to Jeff Cooney, DVM and Jeanette Bonomo, veterinary technician. Even after several days of veterinary treatment, this beautiful hawk unfortunately did not survive.
Electrocution is a common problem for birds of prey. They prefer to perch on high objects and have large wing spans, making larger birds more prone to these types of accidents. If you observe a bird getting electrocuted or suspect that electrocution has occurred, please report it to the electrical company promptly. They will ask you for the two identification numbers that are visible on the telephone pole. Once the electrical company knows where the problem occurred, bird safe guards will be installed usually within a couple of days.
GHO fledge radiographs, showing broken left wing.
Setting the GHO fledge for its radiograph.
Here is a Great Horned Owl fledgling received by Jeff Cooney and Jeannette Bonomo from Long Creek, Oregon. After initial rehab and vet care, it was transferred to the Nature Center rehab raptor transition mew. More updates to come.
Screech Update: X ray photographs of the juvenile Western Screech owl’s injured foot. It has a fractured left Tarsometatarsus.
New rehab entry: Juvenile Western Screech Owl (Megascops kennicottii)
One of our Naturalists retrieved it from Lapine, Oregon where the young raptor had his left foot caught in some deer netting on private property. Using technology as his aid, the naturalist then used a bird call app on his iPhone to create Screech Owl sounds to locate the parents and nest of the baby screech.
After successfully locating the nest and mother of the juvenile, the Naturalist took the Screech back to the Nature Center to contact our favorite raptor veterinarian, Jeff Cooney and veterinarian technician, Jeannette Bonomo.
The veterinarians did an xray of the screech owl to find that it had broken it’s left foot. The foot has been wrapped to give it time to heal. We will post x rays and updates on the small owl’s condition. Stay tuned.
1
