Red-tailed hawk set free after serious head injury

Photo: KOMOnews.com A Red-Tailed Hawk was released after recovering from a serious head...

It was an emotional reunion for a red-tailed hawk and an officer who helped rescue him. The raptor was released back into the wild Wednesday and it was all captured on camera and only on KOMO.

The hawk rattled the animal carrier, hesitated just a second, then took off.

Fish and Wildlife Officer Patrick Murray and Washington State Patrol Trooper Gavin Shuster, found the hawk dazed and stunned in late January alongside Highway 16 north of Gig Harbor.

A motorist first noticed the hawk, found the trooper not far down the road and told him about the bird looking injured and in need of help.

Officer Murray checked on the hawk's progress since he rescued the animal and took it to a shelter that day.

They brought the adult male hawk to West Sound Wildlife Shelter, a nonprofit on Bainbridge Island that rehabilitates injured wildlife.

He knew right away if the bird survived, he wanted to be a part of releasing him back into the wild.

Vets at West Sound did a full exam and found blood inside the bird's mouth and determined it was the result of head trauma.

A red-tailed hawk rescued on SR 16 near Burley Olalla last month was released today after being rehabilitated at the West Sound Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.



Our trooper who was tipped off by a passing motorist & rescued the bird w/ @WDFW helped with the hawk’s release. pic.twitter.com/yNBVxw55lx — Trooper Chelsea Hodgson (@wspd8pio) February 27, 2019

Natalie Guevara [6:34 AM]

At the time they weren't certain he could be released back into the wild but shortly after arriving, he showed feistiness and didn't like being handled. Staff at West Sound Wildlife said that was a good sign and it gave them high hopes he would make a full recovery.

In fact, about a week after arriving he was moved to the shelter's extended flight cage, an outdoor enclosure.

His release is a delicate operation.

The hawk arrived to the release site inside a crate, covered with a light-weight blanket. It's for his benefit — the team doesn't want to traumatize him.

"He sees us as predators, so we want to stay out of his line of sight," said Taylor Tidwell, staff member of the rehabilitation center that brought the bird of prey back to good health.

"It's good to see something come full circle," said Trooper Schuster.

After weeks of nurturing, treatment and practice flights, staff knew it was time to release their patient.

"This guy definitely does hold a little bit of a special place in everyone's heart at West Sound Wildlife Shelter," said Tidwell. The shelter took the raptor in January. His first 48 hours in the shelter were in the facilities' ward; a quiet space where he could be nurtured and de-stress. "His overall personality is that of a red-tail, which is 'I'm big, I'm scary, fear me,' which is exactly what we wanted."

Tidwell and Officer Murray carried the crate together down a trail and into a wooded area off Highway 16.

They picked an area with a clearing, but plenty of tall trees and brush just south of Highway 16's exit for Olalla.

The men who rescued him have followed every step of his progress and had to see him soar again.

Trooper Schuster had the honors. Before he could open the crate's door, it seemed as if the hawk sensed something was about to happen.

The bird of prey started flapping it's wings, and waited for the door to swing open, took one long look at freedom and boom — no hesitation and no problems.

He was gone and in flight within seconds.

'"There it goes," said Tidwell. "There it goes back home," said Schuster.

He bolted for the nearest tree and perched himself one of the lower branches about 40 feet off the ground.

"Oh I feel great, feels good to see the hawk back in his home," said Schuster.

He stayed settled in the tree for a few minutes, flew to higher branch, then checked out the view from a second, and then third, tree.

He seemed as if he was getting his bearings, and then he was gone.

"He wanted to be out, he wanted to be back home," said Schuster.

"Anytime there is an injured animal out there we always try our best to get them back in the wild," said Officer Murray.

The staff and volunteers who nursed the patient back to health believe the hawk was hunting for food when he was hit by a vehicle.

"Usually with hawks, what they're doing is hunting alongside the road and they don't see the car coming and get clipped," said Hospital Manager Fawn Harris when we visited the shelter last month.

Typically in the winter months, the nonprofit sees raptors in particular struck by vehicles while hunting or eating in roadways.

"Make sure you are not throwing things on side of road, try not to feed the wildlife to minimize our impact," said Tidwell.

Staff at the shelter said this time of year roads are dangerous hunting grounds because food is scarce, and remind all of us that we can help save wildlife by keeping our roadways clean and free of liter.

Last year West Sound, which said its mission is provide injured, sick and orphaned wildlife a second chance at life, cared for more than 1,600 animals. More than half of those animals are birds.