Free as a bird! How lucky hawk was rescued without a scratch from Lexus grille after 60mph collision

A car mechanic was expecting the worst when the owner of a Lexus SUV asked him to remove a hawk from her vehicle’s grille.

The customer told mechanic Matt Whitehead at the Lexus dealership in Grapevine, Texas, that she had been driving at more than 60 miles an hour when the bird of prey crashed into her car.

Mr Whitehead wasn’t optimistic about the outcome - his dealings with animals usually mean removing the bodies of various wildlife - ‘small birds, rodents, squirrels, reptiles - anything but fish’ - from vehicles.

Wing and a prayer: Mechanics in Grapevine, Texas, remove the grille of the Lexus to free the red-tailed hawk after a 60mph collision

‘Every bird we’ve ever seen hit a car has died,’ Mr Whitehead said.

The red-tailed hawk’s body was wedged between the partitions, with only its wings and a single talon visible. Its entire body – head and all – was inside the grille. ‘He was not moving,’ Mr Whitehead said.

He and the other mechanics were shocked when the bird stirred. ‘I looked in there and the hawk had his head turned kind of sideways. I could see his eye and he blinked.’

Lucky strike: Astonishingly the hawk survived the impact with seemingly nothing but concussion

Stuck fast: Only the hawk's wings and one talon were visible in the grille of the car. Astonishingly it appeared only stunned when mechanic Matt Whitehead freed it and took to a local vet



Mechanics reached for their cameras and started taking pictures of the rescue.

After some careful manoeuvring on the part of Mr Whitehead and fellow mechanics at Park Place Lexus, the hawk was freed from the grille.

Mr Whitehead was amazed that the bird appeared to be free from injury. ‘Nothing was broke,’ he said. ‘He wasn’t even missing a feather that I’m aware. I never even saw any feathers.’

However the hawk was obviously suffering from shock, and, according to Mr Whitehead, was flapping its wings but couldn’t fly.

Free bird: Matt Whitehead and fellow mecahnics pose with the hawk they rescued from the SUV grille

To be on the safe side,he took the traumatised bird to local vet Greg Moore, who said he was confident the bird could recover from internal injuries and a concussion.

The vet said the hawk would in all likelihood be able to fly again.

Mr Moore the mechanics for the way they handled the bird. ‘They did a good job – handled the bird well.’