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WE'RE SAVING BABY RAPTORS!!!!
During the entire month of May,
you can help us feed them!
Once there was a family of turkey vultures living in an old barn. When the owner decided to close up the barn, he didn't realize that the vultures had made their home in the hayloft, and that they had two nestlings.
Work on the barn made a lot of noise, and it terrified the little nestlings, who tried to get away. One baby huddled in a corner of the loft. The other, in trying to get away from the loud sounds he'd never heard before, fell out of the loft onto the cement floor below, and broke his wing. The owner called us to rescue both babies.
The best caregivers for any baby animal are its parents, so when someone calls Soarin' Hawk's rescue line about a young raptor on the ground, if the baby is not injured, the caller gets a crash course on how to make a temporary nest where the parents can continue to care for the baby. But in this case, one of the babies was injured, and the nest site was destroyed, so we brought both nestlings to our ICU, where they joined 4 baby kestrels and 2 great horned owlets. So many hungry mouths to feed!
Growing raptors eat A LOT! And they eat OFTEN. Thanks to two price increases in the past three years, a single mouse (an owlet's favorite food) now costs about $0.75. Baby owls eat at least 6 mice a day. As they grow, they need more and more mice, and may graduate to rats (at a whopping $3 apiece!). In general, a growing raptor baby needs to eat an amount equal to about 20% of his body weight, twice a day. That's a lot of mice and rats for just one bird, let alone the 20-30 little ones we rescue during baby season!
During the month of May, as we gear up for this year's onslaught of young raptors that have fallen on hard times, will you make a contribution to help a baby raptor grow up?
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We are offering the following gifts to donors:
EVERYONE who donates $15 or more will receive an official Soarin' Hawk silicon wristband, embossed with our rescue line contact information.
THE FIRST PERSON who donates $75 will receive a copy of The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman.
THE FIRST 2 PEOPLE who donate $100 will receive a copy of the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America, 2e.
THE FIRST 3 PEOPLE (or groups of 7 or less) who donate $250 will receive the opportunity to get up-close and personal with Soarin' Hawk and our resident education raptors, in our new "Raptor Adventure." Click here for more information.
THE FIRST 2 PEOPLE OR GROUPS who donate $1000 will receive a "We Bring the Birds to You" experience, in which Soarin' Hawk will bring your choice of 3 of our ambassador birds to your group meeting, birthday party, or other private gathering.
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"Our mental life,
like a bird's life,
seems to be made of
an alternation of flights and perchings."
-- William James
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On December 1, 2020, we received a call from Topeka, IN about a snowy owl caught in a barbed wire fence. Bill Oberg brought the owl to our ICU, where she was found to be in good shape, except for a wound on her wing.
Over the next 5 months, our vet, Dr. Riebe, vet tech Maraiah Russell, and our dedicated ICU staff monitored and treated her, cleaning and debriding the wound on her wing each week then, when her wing had sufficiently healed, watching and evaluating her in our flight pen to help her gain strength and, finally, imping her tail feathers so she could be released now, instead of waiting for new feathers to grow.
Exactly 5 months to the day of her admission, on May 1, Sue Hansen and Bill drove her to Mount Pleasant, MI to give her a "head start" on her migration back north. Thanks to the help of the Isabella County (Michigan) Parks Department she was released in a safe place, and sent on her way to her home in Canada.
Please, please remember: If you find an injured bird or animal, you give them the best chance at survival by contacting a DNR-permitted rehabber as soon as possible. By law, you may keep the injured animal for only 24 hours. While you search for a rehab, do not hold or pet the animal, and do not feed or give it water. Just put it in a box in quiet place, away from activity and noise. If you have difficulty finding a licensed rehab for a non-raptor, call the Soarin' Hawk rescue line (260-241-0134) and we will help you try to find someone.
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We are very grateful to have been featured on PBS Fort Wayne's PrimeTime on April 30!
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On April 23, the first of Moxie's four eggs hatched. Little #1 set about doing what baby falcons do: eating and sleeping and peeping. Early on, he found that his siblings' eggs make good pillows for a baby who has trouble holding his little head up for long. Moxie and Jamie are devoted parents, and the little one has not been wanting for food (although he's always peeping for more). Many, many full crops later, now he can hold his head up better, so mom and dad have an easier time feeding him.
Peregrines generally lay their eggs about 2-3 days apart, and when the first baby hatches we expect to see the others follow every 2 to 3 days after. But after eight days, #1 is the only one that's hatched so far. Will #1 be an only child?
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A SPECIAL NOTE FROM GIGI,
OUR VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR
Hello everyone!
We are starting up again with small orientations. Please contact me for more info on volunteering with Soarin’ Hawk.
Stay well!
Gigi Stewart, Volunteer Coordinator
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CELEBRATING YOUR GENEROSITY
Thanks to February Save-a-Raptor donors . . .
K. Bartlett
. . . and thanks to the donors who give each and every month!
S. Bowman, P. Davich, M. & D. Freed, S. McInnis, L. Ostergren
In honor of Earth Day . . .
Employees of Wabash Valley Power Alliance
Jefferson, Ehr, and Poe need fish!
If you have fresh fish you'd like to donate, call our rescue line (260-241-0134) to arrange for pickup or delivery. Please be sure to remove all hooks and lead tackle.
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Stork Story
When Stepjan found Malena, she had been shot by a hunter, and one of her wings was permanently damaged. He brought her home, and has cared for her for more than 25 years.
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The alula is a bird’s “thumb,” positioned on the top edge of the wing and covered with three to five small feathers, depending on the species.
Normally it lays flat on the wing and is hard to see but birds raise their alulas to prevent a stall during slow flight. In this position the air can flow faster over the top of the wing, creating lift when the wing is perpendicular to the ground. Wikipedia explains that this allows “a higher than normal angle of attack” which is exactly what Dorothy the peregrine is doing here — attacking the bird banders who are coming for her babies.
~Thanks to Outside My Window Blog, Dec. 11, 2009, photo by Jack Rowley
https://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2009/12/11/anatomy-alula/
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