Young hawk trapped in chicken coop netting gets help from rescuers. See it fly away
A feathered predator in Pennsylvania had a close call when it got stuck in some netting — then rescuers stepped in.
A young red-tailed hawk was found in chicken coop netting Dec. 4 at a home in Langhorne, which is a “not-so-great” predicament that juvenile birds can get themselves into, Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research, Inc. said in a Dec. 11 Facebook post. Then, the residents called for help. .
A volunteer from Wildlife in Need, a wildlife volunteer network that takes care of animals that are sick or injured, came to the home that afternoon to help free the bird, Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research Inc. executive director Lisa Smith told McClatchy News in an email. She was able to remove most of the netting, and the bird came away from the situation with no “severe injuries,” the organization said.
The WIN volunteer then gave the young bird to another volunteer to care for at her house in a “special, quiet room set aside for these overnight birds,” Smith said. The bird was brought in to Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research, Inc.’s clinic the next day.
The rest of the netting was removed from the bird, which is estimated to be less than 2 years old, Smith said. After examining the bird, rescuers determined that it was healthy “albeit for a few disheveled feathers.”
“This hawk was very fortunate. It is not uncommon for us to receive entanglement victims that have deep wounds or dislocated joints,” Smith said.
The next step was to check the hawk’s flight abilities. The bird was put in an “outdoor flight pen,” Smith said, and it quickly became obvious that the hawk had “excellent flight skills.”
Then, it was time for the bird’s takeoff, which was recorded on video and shared by the rescue group. The raptor was released at Thomas P. Bentley Nature Preserve in Glenmoore on Dec. 6, as it isn’t necessary to release the bird where it was originally found because of it’s too young to have “established territory,” Smith said.
“It was a quick return to freedom for this patient,” the organization wrote.
Red-tailed hawks are one of the most common hawks in North America, according to All About Birds, a bird identification database ran by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The red-tailed hawk, which feeds on small animals, stays in most of the U.S. year-round.
Many people may be familiar with the red-tailed hawk’s piercing screech, as it is often used by filmmakers when a hawk or eagle appears in a movie, according to All About Birds.
Langhorne is about 25 miles northeast of Philadelphia, and Glenmoore is 50 miles west of Langhorne.
This story was originally published December 11, 2023 at 1:45 PM with the headline "Young hawk trapped in chicken coop netting gets help from rescuers. See it fly away."
