Back on my Blog!

Well it's been more than a year since I posted anything. I think that what happens to us is that we neglect something for so long that we feel it is an unsurmountable task to reconnect and just jump back in without some symbolic gesture that we are back. At least it feels that way to me. So here I am back again ready to share the unique world of raptor rehabilitation with the world. This time I will not attempt to write a novel each time, but just try to share snippets of my world as I believe that is what these blogs are designed to do. I have other animal interests I will share from time to time and I am lucky that I get to see all kinds in my work.

Here's one of my favorite photos of me 5 years ago with one of the first birds I felt connected with at my current job. His name is Mr. Pepe, a red-shouldered hawk. He was brought to the Museum by a rehabilitator who had unknowingly "imprinted" him. Imprinting is the method by which an animal, at an early age, associates him/herself with another creature/caregiver so that he/she can model and adapt all future social behavior to that individual. In the wild, imprinting is an important process for the baby animal and will ensure that it is cared for properly and can at some point in the future pair up with and breed with another member of its kind. When an animal is allowed to imprint onto a human, it will ruin the animal's chance for survival in the wild as it will be maladapted to all of the behaviors necessary for its social success with other members.

For example, one year I attempted to introduce Mr. Pepe to an orphaned red shouldered hawk with the hopes of giving the orphan a chance to associate with his own kind and socialize with an adult red shouldered hawk. Our great horned owl is also an imprint but will allow young owls to coexist peacefully with him as will our foster mom Lucille, an imprint screech owl. Mr. Pepe however, wouldn't have any of this. As soon as he saw the youngster he flew at it aggressively several times (with me there protecting the youngster) until I deemed the experiment a complete failure.

Mr. Pepe therefore, remains in captivity for the rest of his days because of the ignorance of this individual who allowed him to lose all of his wild instincts. He will continue to be an outstanding ambassador to his wild counterparts. He has since blossomed into a stunning mature red-shouldered hawk. He still has his charms, but has lost his childish ways and at times can be a danger to his handlers due to the surging hormones that can create aggressive behavior in these imprints.

In his current state, Mr. Pepe helps to spread the word of what can go wrong by keeping animals meant to be wild as pets. It may seem fun and really cool, but as always, babies grow up and will always turn into hormonal adults in one way or another and can be dangerous to the unsuspecting human, especially if released into the wild. Please always attempt to contact a wildlife rehabilitator or wildlife officer if you find a baby animal. If you cannot find one in your area, please contact me for assistance.

Looking back- Part 1

With the migration season upon us, I have very little time to catch my breath before I become very busy with rehabilitating raptors that have not made the migration successfully. Already, we have received in our rehabilitation program two peregrine falcons, three red shouldered hawks, one cooper hawk, one merlin, and one american kestrel.

As I was browsing through my pictures from this last year, it occurred to me that we were blessed with some amazing experiences and some tremendous outcomes that are worth remembering.

Baby season began this year in a rather usual fashion, but quickly progressed to include orphans that we usually don't see at our center. Screech owl orphans always come in by the dozens and this year was no different. We are however ready for them as usual. We are fortunate to have a foster mom that is able to raise the youngsters and provide a necessary role model for them as they grow and develop into adults.






The "teenagers" then progress to hunting school and are offered a variety of live prey to assess their hunting skills. When they have successfully completed this stage of their rehabilitation, they are placed with a group of screech owls to develop and continue their hunting skills before the final stage, hacking.


This "hack box" provides a safe place for the young screech owls to survey their surroundings for a few days before the doors are opened to allow them to fly out at their leisure. They are given food and water while inside the box, but human contact is kept to a minimum to allow them to fully identify with their new surroundings.



Our first challenge came in the form of a notoriously difficult patient, the osprey. Fresh from a rehabilitation conference, I was ready for this challenge. I had attended a class which spoke of the advantages of reuniting young raptors with their parents instead of raising them in captivity. I saw this young osprey as a perfect candidate for this technique as ospreys have rather complex tactics in learning to hunt. They are the only raptor that specialize in catching fish as the main source of their diet, and to do so they must learn hovering skills to hone in on the fish before diving down feet first to snag their catch.

After a week of treatment at our center, the young osprey was ready for his journey back to the wild, but we were unable to locate the parents. The nest had been abandoned due to a band of marauding crows and the fate of its sibling was unknown. The finder, Rebecca was an avid watcher of all the ospreys in the area and knew the location of several other nests, so we set out for the next best thing, an attempt to foster this young bird into another nest.





We picked a location close to the original nest with only one chick to reduce the chances of impact on the established family. The entire "neighborhood" was already enjoying their morning catch. We placed our youngster in a nearby tree so that he could survey the area. After much consideration, he took flight, flying all around the area. I held my breath as he soared over the trees, then returned back to land softly on the nest and welcome himself to his new family. The adult carefully considered her new arrival, then bent down and ripped off a fresh piece of fish to offer to her new family member. It was an awe inspiring moment to realize that our young bird had been accepted into this family and fed by the adult. As we continued to watch, it became more and more evident that this bird would have the opportunity to learn from these foster parents thereby increasing his chances for survival in the wild. I am happy to report that after watching for a couple of days, Rebecca continued to see our young bird in the nest and the adult continued to feed our bird as well as her own chick.

There is much more to come. Stick around for part 2 of this non stop account of spring with the raptors in Miami.