27 year old Red Tail Hawk Goes on Circuitous Journey to Rescue; Now recuperating at NJ’s Raptor Trust before hopeful release
Found sitting on top of a dead rabbit in the middle of Route 17M in rural upstate New York, it was discovered that this Red Tail Hawk had a band on her. Upon further investigation, rehabilitators realized that she is 27 years old, one of the oldest living hawks known.
“A motorist, worried that the bird would be hit by a car, stopped to pick her up after seeing her feeding on a rabbit carcass in the road. When the bird didn’t fight him and wouldn’t let the rabbit go, he figured there was something wrong with her and put her in the back of his van, where she perched on a mop handle.”
The bird is now at The Raptor Trust in Millington, New Jersey. She “will be fed and observed at least through the winter. If she is fully healed and able to fly, she will probably be released back into the wild.”
Good luck, RTH!
Photo: Yana Paskova for the New York Times
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