Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk

Our rehabilitation facility is looking to place a non-releasable juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. This bird came into our rehabilitation clinic on June 13, 2024 after a presumed car strike. They a slightly smaller left eye globe than the right, but otherwise it appears to look normal to the naked eye. The eye did have hemorrhaging in the anterior chamber but that has since resolved. The back of the eye initially had too much hemorrhage to evaluate, but that has cleared up some – there is no reaction to light or people on the left side of this bird’s body when the right eye is covered. There is some inflammation still in the back of the eye. There is a chance that this resolves, with time, and that the bird regains some function back, but at this time, we are inclined to call it complete blindness in the left eye. We also identified a fracture of the distal phalanges on recent radiographs. This injury is callusing over nicely and in his enclosure outside that he was briefly in, he moved well. While we can’t predict with 100% certainty at this time, our veterinary staff believes that this injury is unlikely to bird’s ability to fly. The bird is stressed with handling but is easily removed from the kennel where they are currently being held in our ICU. When the bird was in an outdoor enclosure briefly, they remained on a perch with their foot tucked and a calm disposition as a staff trainer approached the enclosure and talked to the bird. The bird’s weight a week ago was 900g. We are a facility based in Bend, OR but are willing to coordinate travel of this bird for proper placement. Please reach out to Sadie Pollock at sadie@thinkwildco.org with any questions or interest.