Look what landed on my doorstep today

The poor thing. He must have been flying pretty fast when he hit.

Lethargic isn't good. Blood from his mouth isn't good.

I hope they have a good vet. No sense putting a bird down that could recover and no sense allowing a bird to suffer that will only die anyway and is in pain. I hope they have a good vet that can tell which way to go.

Did they give you a number you can call to check up on him?

 

oh, no

poor thing, it's a real shame.

 

Bummer about the poor guy. Here is a link to the University of Minnesota Raptor Center, if it's not too late, these guys work wonders rehabing birds. http://www.raptor.cvm.umn.edu/raptor/about/home.html If nothing else, they have lots of good info on their web site should this ever happen again.

Let us know how this all comes out Doc.

 

bummer such a great pix had to come under such circumstances. hope it's ok.

 

Sorry to see your bird in such rough shape. He didn't appear to be seriously injured in the first picture.

 

Is it just me, or does his eye look funny? Like it's too small for the socket or is pushed in?

Hawk's face

 

The hawk may have been chasing prey. That would explain the high-speed dive into the house.

I one watched a hawk injure itself chasing prey. The hawk looked like it was within inches of success, but it still didn't have a chance . . . it was after a hummingbird! The hummer zipped around a tree trunk and then up through the branches. The hawk ended up hitting a small branch and tumbled to the ground. It stayed there for a couple of minutes collecting its senses. I'm sure the hawk would have liked to take more time recuperating, but the two hummingbird and another bird started dive bombing it. The hawk didn't look too secure in its flying abilities, but I'm sure it was thinking anywhere was better than that place. :blink:

 

We have hummers in a shady area of our yard we call "Grandpa's Corner" and they are feisty little guys. I can see why a hawk would be intimidated by two of them dive bombing him.

We have red tailed hawks in our canyon too. (I should say my parents' canyon). I'm sure they're hunting small mammals. There are also coyotes, foxes and opposums as well as squirrels and gophers. When I was growing up a family of quail would come each year and perch on the chain link fence at dusk. The first year we moved in there were horned toads, but they left pretty quickly. The lizards still sun themselves on the walls, even though my parents now have a dog. There has been a turtle and the occasional snake. Mostly gopher and king. Only once was there a rattler and he was quickly dispatched by a neighbor.

My mother keeps a birdbath outside the sliding glass door so she can enjoy the birds bathing at dusk. Many LBJs and a Bluejay. The hummers have nested in Grandpa's corner twice. There is also a persistent dove that insists on nesting in the various hanging baskets. It may or may not be the same one each year, but the basket she chooses is in different locations around the house.

Papa and Mama in Queens



There are several urban red tailed hawks. Pale Male and Lola are in Manhattan and Papa and Mama are in Queens. As far as I'm concerned, if there is something there they are hunting and it's enough to keep them alive and healthy...let them be. You probably don't want what they're eating running around anyway. (mice....rats.....squirrels...ratswithwings...er...pidgeons.)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Aug 21 2006, 08:39 PM) [snapback]307168[/snapback]</div>

Thats too bad.

Steve

 

Evan, Please post if you find out about the condition of this bird. I'm sure others would also like to know if it survives.

I read that many hawks live their lives with broken bones. They fly into branches and other structures when chasing their prey.

We have resident Coopers hawks that prey on the birds that I feed in my yard. I gained a new respect for hawks when the coopers came for feeding and every single feeder bird took off except for one. the coopers was sitting in my neighbors yard high on a branch. the remaining bird was a house finch that was sitting still on a feeder. I kept hoping for the bird to remain still and it wouldn't sucumb to death. in about 5 minutes, the coopers took a dive bomb at the feeder, did a 360 around the tiny feeder and snatched the bird from the feeder. i still have no clue how the coopers saw this bird since it was in my neighbors yard and the finch was completely out of view. though i didn't appreciate the demise of the finch, it was truly spectacular to witness. i was even more amazed at how agile this bird was.

your bird looks tiny. it may have been a juvenile but the plumage looks to be adult. these birds get up to almost two feet tall when fully grown!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Aug 21 2006, 06:58 PM) [snapback]307234[/snapback]</div>

Yes, I can imagine how you feel. Bummer, it's a beautiful bird.

Please let us know if you find out anything more.

 

<sniff>

 

Poor thing.

 

Oh dear...I just had a feeling that might happen.

You did a good thing, Evan! Such a beautiful creature...I, too, believe that when animals step into my domain and need help, we should step up and do so.

I have helped out with two "stray" dogs this year....felt really good to reunite them with their owners....

One was a pit bull that wandered into my garage while I was cleaning it....I really jumped! I wound up calling the Animal Care people...they came...the neighbor whose dog it was had driven by....they AC people did "catch" the dog and I was able to hook them up with her....

terri

terri

 

I'm very sorry to hear that. At least you did all that you could to get him/her to the right people, regardless of the outcome.

 

That's really too bad that he didn't make it. Beautiful photos, btw.