The Road To Recovery For An Emaciated Red-Tailed Hawk

The following story was shared with us by The Bird Rescue Center of Sonoma County.

The Bird Rescue Center admitted an adult red-tailed hawk that was borderline emaciated with left wing trauma and neurologic symptoms. We suspect the bird had been struck by a vehicle and had been struggling to survive on its own for some time prior to rescue.

The Effects Of Starvation, And How To Overcome It

In all stages of starvation, the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) actually shrinks and has little ability to digest food; therefore, initial recovery from starvation is never as simple as offering food and allowing a bird to eat. Rather, an emaciated bird must be warmed and hydrated for the first 24 hours, then food needs to be slowly introduced in small, easy-to-digest portions.

In order to begin re-introducing nutrition, we work through a progression of tube-feeding formula, to slurries, to hand-feeding simple whole foods (i.e., only meat + guts), to finally offering complete whole foods. The most critical component of this process is the formula stage, as this is what pulls the bird away from the brink and slowly starts to reactivate the GIT. EmerAid IC Carnivore is our go-to option for more severely malnourished individuals, as its unique formula provides the easiest-to-digest, high-quality nutrients.

Due to the severity of the bird’s malnutrition, we elected to use EmerAid IC Carnivore for our initial tubing formula, and it worked like a charm! After one week of intensive care, the bird had graduated to simple whole foods and was eating on its own. With its newfound strength and vitality, the bird was ready to overcome the lingering neurologic effects from the car strike and was on the road to recovery. After just over a month and a half in care, live-prey testing, and creance assessments, the young red-tailed hawk was returned to the wild!