The week started with the admission of an American White Pelican found near Dayville, OR. At 5.31 kg (11.7 pounds) it weighs more than most eagles.  The pelican is a young bird, full grown and should be able to fly. We are not sure how it was injured. It had a large tear in the skin of its left foot. It was quarantined in the new Intake Center and tested for avian influenza.  

When the test results were negative, the bird was brought into the main clinic for a more thorough exam and radiographs. We have a special cone for anesthetizing pelicans. It is made from a Tupperware pasta container and a two-cup Tupperware measuring cup taped together. It is the perfect length! It took seven x-rays to get the pelican’s entire body, legs and wings. We found no fractures during the physical exam or radiographs. 

The skin tear was partially closed with staples to keep the underlying tissue from drying out while the wound heals. 

The Pelican was moved out to the large flight pen until the staples can be removed.

More Barn Swallows

Five more Barn Swallows were admitted this past week, including three nestlings. With luck we are just about at the end of baby season.

Bald Eagle 23-024 Released

Five months after being admitted with acute lead poisoning, the eagle was released…

There were just eight birds admitted this past week, most were vehicle strikes. Tara transported two birds. On Wednesday, Tricia and I released two chipmunks near Jubilee Lake. Can you find them? 

Neither could we! They disappeared quickly into the forest.

After the Chipmunk release, we traveled to La Grande and met Tara. She had picked up a fledgling Swainson’s Hawk in Vale. The radiograph below shows a badly damaged left humerus. The proximal (closest to the shoulder) humerus is shattered. Sadly, the damage could not be repaired.

A high point of the week was another fledgling Swainson’s Hawk that was hit by a car. It had a significant head injury and does not seem able to see out of its right eye, but after three days of fluids and anti-inflammatories, it has a healthy appetite. We will schedule an appointment at Pendleton Veterinary Clinic in the coming week to have the eye evaluated.

ODFW delivered a Red-tailed Hawk from Heppner that the finder suspected had been shot. A radiograph determined that it was more likely struck by a vehicle, but again, the damage was too extensive to repair. 

On Friday, Tricia met Tara in La Grande again to get an injured Great Horned Owl that Tara had picked up. It had been struck by a vehicle, sustaining multiple injuries: the left humerus and right radius were fractured,  the left hip was either dislocated or fractured and there was no feeling in the left foot. Because Great Horned Owls are high risk species for avian influenza (although the owl displayed no signs of influenza) its examination took place in the Intake Center where we do not have x-ray equipment. Red-tailed Hawks are also high risk species for avian influenza. We followed strict protocol while x-raying the hawk after it had been euthanized to determine that it had not been shot.

The Goldfinches admitted last week haven’t figured out how to eat on their own yet, but they are starting to fly!

As we slowly work our way through the summer months, we welcomed a cooling trend toward the end of the week. The predicted high today, Sunday, is 81 degrees! 

Earlier in the week a young Golden Eagle was admitted. The eagle was likely struck by a vehicle. He was extremely emaciated and had a dislocated left radius and a fractured ulna. The damage to the eagle’s elbow was not repairable and he was euthanized. 

Even if the wing had been repairable, I doubt if we could have saved him. The eagle weighed just over 4 pounds. A normal weight would have been 7 or 8 pounds. There is very little visible muscle mass in the radiograph above. Such extreme emaciation is very difficult to overcome.

The week continued to challenge us with birds we could not help:

A Swainson’s Hawk with multiple fractures in its upper beak. There, was so much damage that surgery was not an option.

A Great Horned Owl whose left wing and right leg were broken. 

A Red-tailed Hawk with compound fractures in its right metacarpals and compromised circulation in the wingtip.

Fortunately, on Friday, we were able to release two young Crows:

And then 4 American Goldfinches whose nest was blown out of the tree were admitted…

According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the Dog Days of Summer are from July 3 to August 11 each year. The phrase is a reference to Sirius, the Dog Star, part of the constellation Canis Major, the Greater Dog. It is the brightest star visible from any place on earth. The ancient Romans believed it actually gave off heat and added to the Sun’s warmth.  They referred to this time as dies canicularres, or dog days. 

Enjoy our “cool” weather. It will be back up in the 90’s soon!

Most of our baby birds are grown and flying. We returned an American Crow to its family east of Pendleton, then traveled La Grande to release  a Robin…

The next stop was Ladd Marsh to release a Swainson’s Hawk who had been shot near Union. Hopefully he will stick around the marsh. Like all Swainson’s he definitely has an attitude!

On Saturday, Tricia went down the hill to Sparks Station elevator and released a Cliff Swallow who was immediately greeted by the Swallows there… 

The Common Raven is full grown, but still thinks he needs to be fed…

From the mess he makes in his cage throwing food around, we’re pretty sure he’s quite capable of feeding himself. Perhaps we are being manipulated by a teenager?

Young Swainson’s Hawk Reunited With Family

After using acetone to remove pitch from the young hawk’s feathers, he was placed in a tree next to the pitch producing pine tree where had come from. You might wonder why we would do that? His parents (in my view) are much better equipped to teach him how to be a successful Swainson’s Hawk than we humans. We could place him in a hack box for two weeks to get him used to being fed in that location and then release him and keep supplying food, but he would not have the benefit of interacting with his parents. 

The Baby Board

Our lives are currently ruled by the baby feeding board. The column on the left lists the birds: House Finch, Barn Swallow, American Robin,Western Kingbird, Say’s Phoebe, another Western Kingbird and Common Raven and what they are fed. Across the top are the feeding times between 7:00 am and 8:30 pm (the days are getting shorter so we no longer feed until 9:00 pm). Each dot represents a time when the corresponding bird is fed. 

Least Chipmunk

These tiny Chipmunks (weighing 22 grams which is less than an ounce) were found in a parking lot on Weston Mountain near Jubilee Lake. Being fully furred with their eyes open, they do not need to be fed formula, but they do seem a little young to be separated from their family. we will do some research to determine when we should return them to Weston Mountain.

More Songbirds

An always hungry Western Kingbird…

And two American Robins…