Blue Mountain Wildlife is a small, but busy organization. So far in 2026 more than 350 birds have been admitted for care. Energetic interns who want to learn about wildlife rehabilitation make it possible to provide the services that result in nearly half of the birds being returned to the wild. Interns April, Sophie and Ava have helped care for birds who have been struck by cars, encountered cats, flown into windows or been shot. This week, under Tricia’s watchful eye, they also learned to install curtain rods and hang curtains in the new clinic. Good life skills!
April restrains a hawk while Sophie administers oral fluids.
Then, Ava administers medication to the hawk.
Swainson’s Hawk 26-253 couldn’t be saved, but we were able to document and report that it had been a gunshot victim.
Hacking is a method of raising young raptors that mimics the care provided by the adult birds. The birds are placed in a hack box one to two weeks before their normal fledge date. Food is dropped through a chute on one end of the box each day. The door is opened when it is time for them to fledge. Food continues to be dropped through the chute or placed on a nearby platform once the birds leave the box. BMW typically uses hacking to raise Kestrels, Screech Owls, Barn Owls, Great Horned Owls, Swainson’s Hawks and Red-tailed Hawks.
In the boxes below there are three Swainson’s Hawks in the left box, one Swainson’s on top of the box and one Swainson’s in the box with the open door
The clever Great Horned Owl below discovered free food at the Screech Owl hack site. Everybody loves a free meal!
Northern Goshawk 26-351 was found near Joseph and is thought to have flown into a shop window. Goshawks are large forest hawks, an accipiter like Cooper’s Hawks, and rarely admitted. X-rays show trauma to the bird’s right side and spine. Followup x-rays will be taken in two weeks. Although the prognosis is guarded, we are hopeful for a complete recovery. Below Ava recovers the hawk from anesthesia. The x-ray is an H-view which is an oblique. We used a roll of garbage bags to prop the hawk’s hips up. It helps evaluate the shoulders. You can see asymmetry in the shoulder girdle as well as increased density in the spine.
While working on this newsletter a man called who was trying to get a Cooper’s Hawk out of a hangar at an airport. The challenge in this situation is to convince the bird to fly down through an open door. I suggested placing something in the doorway that would attract the hawk’s attention. This resourceful fellow put a shop rag in the top of a gas can and set it in the doorway. The rag fluttered in the breeze. The hawk swooped down toward the rag and within 10 minutes had flown out of the shop. I love happy endings!
