Red-Shouldered Hawk Car Collision: Patient 22-23

This juvenile Red-Shouldered Hawk was found near Gettysburg, February 5, 2022, after being hit by a car. Although a very lucky bird for surviving the crash, the hawk suffered fractures to his left foot.

An Amputated Toe!

Unfortunately, the tendon damage in the injured toe was beyond repair. While splinting helped support the toe closest to the foot, the talon on that toe became stuck pointing inward. It wasn’t causing the hawk any trouble right away, but in the wild, the talon would not wear down naturally and could potentially grow right into his foot!

As rehabilitators, our job is to understand how our patients live in the wild. Not only did we know the injured toe would cause the hawk trouble in the future, we also knew that it was a toe he could live without!

There are certain talons and toes that are absolutely critical for a wild hawk when hunting. Thankfully, this was not one of them. The only way to give the hawk a chance at release back into the wild was to amputate part of the toe. Thank you to Dr. Balmer and Animal Hospital of Dauphin County for performing the surgery!

Our donors raised the funds to pay for the surgery, our vet partners got us in for surgery and our rehab team spent the next few weeks rehabbing the hawk back into peak performance. This minor handicap isn't going to slow this hawk down! He was eager to be back home in the wild where he belongs.

Thank you to everyone who had a part in this birds rescue, recovery and release.