Bird returned to wild at fish hatchery
By Edgar Kelley, The Inter-Mountain
BOWDEN, W.Va. — After undergoing months of rehabilitation, a rescued raptor was recently released back into the wild at the Bowden Fish Hatchery.
The bird, which was an immature male red-tailed hawk, was set free last week at the same location where it was found back in August at the Fish Hatchery. The facility’s manager, J.R. Wilson, came across the hawk while working and noticed it was unable to fly.
Knowing something was wrong, Wilson immediately contacted raptor specialist Jo Santiago for assistance. Santiago sent her raptor rescue volunteer, Dylan Lewis, to the location so that he could survey the situation at the hatchery and assist.
Upon his arrival, Lewis saw that the hawk could not fly, but was able to run very fast, escaping his and Wilson’s grasps on several occasions until the raptor became too tired to continue running from the two.
Lewis took the hawk to Santiago, who discovered it to be severely dehydrated and starving. Knowing the bird had been on the ground for a while, Santiago gave it several rounds of electrolytes throughout the night to help stabilize the bird.
Read more: https://www.theintermountain.com/news/local-news/2024/11/rescued-hawk-released-2/
