The first week in October our game warden, Bryan Lockman, calls with an injured red tail hawk. The weight on the bird is only 852 grams, sort of ok for a male, but not a female red tail. After a visit to Wolf River vet clinic we can not find any injuries. She goes into hospital care and starts her rehab. She is all excited when you bring her water dish. She sits in it and drinks.
After she puts on some weight she goes out into a 12 x 16 to hear the outside world. She kills live food and then goes into a larger flight where she can be monitored on camera. Flying, killing and telling us she is ready to get out of here.

On Sunday November 27th she is taken back to where the game warden found her and is released. She flys some 200 yards and settles in a pine, where the crows zero in on her. From there she makes a longer flight and when she lands a stright line red tail makes for her. The bird lands about 7 inches above and just watches her while she preens her feathers. Good sign, no agression. They both leave the tree and you can see the size difference, male is smaller. The last time we saw them they were heading west over the marsh. We would like to think the resident bird was the mate and they are back together on their territory together.



Photos by fisher