Starving Red-Tailed Hawk With Old Trauma Unable To Fly

This story was shared with us by Rocky Mountain Raptor Program in Colorado.

This beautiful, second-year, red-tailed hawk was found by good Samaritans along a road in Lone Star, Colorado. With help from Colorado Parks and Wildlife the bird was rushed 138 miles to the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program in Fort Collins, Colorado.

On admission, rehabilitation staff discovered the reason the hawk was unable to fly — it was dangerously thin, weighing in at only 692 grams (about 1.5 pounds), and suffering from old trauma. Due to the severity of its emaciation, rehabilitation staff knew the hawk was too sick to process whole foods.

To combat the emaciation and jump-start the stricken hawk’s GI tract, it was tube-fed a warmed slurry of EmerAid Intensive Care Carnivore diet. It was unresponsive for the first few tube-feedings but slowly the hawk became more alert and feisty. Rehabilitation staff knew that the hawk was going to make a full recovery when it finally stood for the first time.

After only a month and a day in rehabilitation, the now feisty red-tailed hawk got its second chance at freedom and was released on a beautiful fall day. By that time, it had gained 402 grams (about 14 ounces), weighing in at 1094 grams (almost 2.5 pounds).