A Day At The Hospital...

Our Wildlife Hospital is one of the less visible aspects of the World Bird Sanctuary to the casual visitor, so we thought we would give you a peek into some of it's day to day activities.

During the Spring and early summer months violent wind and thunderstorms routinely wreak havoc on the nests of our local birds.  Such was the case with this little red-tailed hawk found in Ladue.  His nest had been blown down in a storm and he was unable to be returned to the nest site.   

After being thoroughly checked out by our hospital staff, it was found that he is not yet fully feathered and ready to fledge, but appears to be otherwise healthy.  His wing feathers are about three-quarter pinned and, barring any setbacks, he should be ready to be released back into the wild in approximately a month.  He will be fostered in our Propagation Department until such time as he is ready to be released, since they have the expertise and are equipped to care for very young birds.

This youngster was one of the lucky ones.  Very often when young birds of this age are blown from the nest they sustain broken bones, internal injuries, or are snatched up by predators since they are vulnerable on the ground.  

We hope to see this youngster soaring free in the very near future.