Red-tailed Hawk - rescue but no release

Red-tailed Hawk juvenile - This is to remind people to not turn your backs on a sick or injured animals or birds. Make the call to help save them. Photo Credit: Frank Butson and Cori Campbell.

As many of you know I am a volunteer at the Toronto wildlife Centre. They do fantastic work and I am very proud to support and volunteer for them. In the past few years I have told you about all the successful releases back in the wild. Not every bird or animal is that lucky. But thanks to TWC they have a chance.

On Friday I was called by a friend Frank saying they had an injured Red-tailed Hawk. I was already on my way home and very close to location. I went directly to location and parked my car and saw a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk sitting just off the ground. To the eye it looked fine but after talking to Frank and Cori I realized it was in trouble. I called Andrew (head rescue staff TWC) told him the situation and he gave me detailed information on how to proceed. Went toward the hawk and a sure sign of a problem is the hawk didn't move. He watched me carefully but just sat there. Once again talked to Andrew and started up the hill with a box.

The hill and the ground was very muddy. Slid down a couple times but the whole time the hawk's yellow eyes watched me. Thanks to a couple of young men who came to help and using their feet created a climbing step for me to climb on. I was able to get to the hawk gently put him in the box (and he didn't even try to get away) and Cori and Frank rushed him to Toronto Wildlife Centre. The hawk made it through the night. He was a very sick hawk and totally emaciated (which means starving to death). When I picked up the bird on Friday it weighed nothing. In the photo it is deceiving because it looks fine. But the behaviour of the hawk told a different story. It wasn't able to fly properly and fell over on landing. Today I received a call saying the hawk had not survived. Thank you to Frank and Cori who noticed the hawk was in trouble and did something about it, the two young men who stopped to help and I know it would have taken a lot longer to get to the sick hawk, and most important is the Toronto Wildlife Centre. Without you there would be no place to take sick or wounded animals or birds. I wish it had a diffent ending but it is great to know that people are watching and making that call to TWC.

From the Toronto Wildlife Centre web site: Wildlife situations: If you have found a wild animal in need of help, information that may help you could be available on this website. If you are unable to find the help you need on this website, or if you have encountered a wildlife emergency, please call 416-631-0662, follow the voice prompts, and leave a detailed message. A wildlife specialist will return your call as quickly as possible. Because of the extremely high volume of calls that TWC receives every day, calls must be answered in order of urgency. If you are calling about a sick, injured or orphaned wild animal, TWC’s wildlife experts will try to return your call within one hour of receiving your message during business hours (9:00 AM to 6:00 PM daily), or first thing the following morning after business hours. Please note: During peak seasons (April – October), TWC is receiving up to 200 calls per day, and busy Wildlife Hotline staff are returning calls as quickly as they possibly can – your patience is appreciated. Donations: If you would like to make a donation or have a donation-related inquiry, please contact us at 416-631-0662 ext. 3207or by email.