Multiple Health Issues Ground A Red-Tailed Hawk

The following story was shared with us by the Humane Animal Rescue Wildlife Center in Pennsylvania.

A beautiful, juvenile, red-tailed hawk received treatment at the Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh’s Wildlife Center over the course of three months for head trauma, nerve damage, multiple bacterial and fungal infections, and dehydration.

During the first couple days of treatment, he was gavage-fed EmerAid IC Carnivore until his body condition improved and he was able to eat solid food.

Once the young hawk was stabilized, the last step in his release process was to replace a few flight feathers that he had broken prior to coming into care. The process to replace the feathers, called “imping,” involves our rehabbers using donor feathers from a non-survivable matching bird (also a juvenile red-tailed hawk), and carefully adhering those feathers into the feather shafts of the patient.

The hawk had a perfect set of feathers to fly free when he was released in early March, and he will naturally molt out his borrowed feathers for all new ones this fall.