By Dr. Scott Ford
I have great news about the hawk that we rescued yesterday. North Dakota Game & Fish was very helpful in hooking me up with the Dakota Zoo in Bismarck. Also, because I don’t have local transportation and I need to stay close to the site of our primary field work, they were able to arrange transport of the bird. So, I gave him more fluids and pain relief through the night and he was taken to the zoo this morning.
But wait! There’s more…
They shared a radiograph with me and the fractures look fixable, particularly since they are so fresh. They would like to have me do the surgery so we’re trying to hammer out those details now. Again, I’m sort of stuck but at least I’m 40 minutes closer to them now since we had to move to another site. So, stay tuned. We may be doing surgery tomorrow.
One more thing: Who else thinks this might be a Swainson’s hawk? It’s kind of small for the average red-tail, but I’ve certainly seen males in this range. It’s buffy breast coloration seems red-tail-ish too. Swainson’s usually have a black breast band too but this guy does have a sparse splash of dark feathers on the upper breast. So, if any of you have an opinion, let me know below!
Special thanks to North Dakota Game & Fish, Dr. Charlie Bahnson, his technician (didn’t catch his name), Alex, Alison, and the Dakota Zoo. It takes a team to pull something like this off.
Tags: fracture, hawk, orthopedic, radiograph, raptor, rehabilitation, surgery, wing, x-ray
#fracture #hawk #orthopedic #radiograph #raptor #rehabilitation #surgery #wing #x-ray
Check out Raptor Research Foundation’s techniques manual and other materials helpful for those working with birds of prey.
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