Update from Rick Schubert on the rescued hawk

Rick Schubert sent the following information on Saturday afternoon:

 "I think I have gotten to the bottom of what was wrong with the hawk. There is definitely a sprain or small fracture near one of the ankle joints that I missed upon the initial exam, because you cannot palpate it, and the bird can still stand on it. However, it is progressively getting worse and is noticeable today.

This explains a lot. First, it could easily have happened as the bird took its first flight and landed on concrete, instead of on dirt and grass. It was able to walk so we didn't notice it. Second, it explains why the bird appeared weak and was not jumping up and down and practice-flapping its wings. Third, if the bird is in pain, just like a person, it is not in the mood to eat and therefore will feed less. Lastly, this can fall into the category of "human-caused" interference, since we're the ones who laid the concrete down, and hawks never evolved to have to deal with concrete.

I have immobilized the joint in a splint, and we have an appointment with Dr. Boutette for a radiograph on Monday. Despite the injury, it is actually quite strong and fights back viciously whenever handled."

Another rescue, and so far so good

This morning, the third eyass remained quietly on the nest.  Amid mounting concern about its lack of energy compared to how its siblings had behaved prior to fledging, the Franklin Institute asked Rick Schubert from the Schuylkill Center’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic to take it off the nest and make an assessment.

I had spent the morning watching the fledged eyasses on the surrounding buildings as well as #3 on the nest.  About 30 minutes before Rick arrived, a haggard dropped off a rat at the nest.  #3 made loud food squawks, and this was the first time this spring that I have heard that sound from any of the eyasses, as they have been so well fed.  It grabbed at the rat, mantled over it strongly, and then started to tear into it and eat ravenously in a way that had not been seen in days.

I was invited to watch the proceedings in the Board Room, and so was lucky enough to witness the extraordinary care taken by Rick and the Franklin Institute staff to ensure the eyass's wellbeing.  Thanks go to Gene Mancini for these pictures.

Taking an eyass from the nest is much more complicated than putting it back, and Rick had to lean out backwards in order to reach his net around to the eyass without frightening it.  Fortunately, because they are so used to seeing people behind the window, the eyass was only mildly surprised when Rick first slid himself out onto the ledge.

At one point, the Franklin staff were holding onto Rick's legs to be sure he didn't take flight!  Rick slowly eased his net under and along the front of the nest, and gently laid it over the eyass.  There was no flapping or struggle.  He pulled the net slowly towards him until he could reach to wrap the soft netting around the hawk, and gather it safely through the window and into the room.

As Rick gently held the eyass, a hood was placed over its head to remove the visual stimuli that can be stressful, and the hawk visibly relaxed....

... as Rick gave it a quick examination, placed it into a box, and quickly headed back to the rehab clinic.

The early word on the hawk is that it seems generally healthy but young, and its feathers are still not ready for flight.  There will probably be more news tomorrow after further observation. 

                                    *             *             *             *        

Now, for some news of the fledged eyasses.  One of them was up on what we call the bathing ledge which runs above the nest the length of the building under the parapet.  This ledge slopes back and down and fills with water whenever it rains.  It is a favorite spot for the hawks to bathe, and this eyass has now learned all about it.  

At this point early in the morning, there were none of the all-star photographers present, so I had to use my mini-lensed camera.  The eyass is that tiny brown blob in the middle below the parapet.  It was soaking wet, and had a punk-like look with its spiky wet plumage.

It moved along the ledge toward the nest, and I suddenly saw the tiercel (dad) perched on the end of the ledge, keeping his eye on the nest eyass as well as the bather.  Dad is the other brown blob in there somewhere!

Carolyn Sutton's sharp eyes picked up the formel sitting in a tree over by the Barnes Museum construction site, so we now had four of the family in sight, but where was the remaining eyass?

Once again, Carolyn powered up her atomic eyesight and picked out a tiny eyass shape on the top of the book store at the corner of 22nd and Wood Streets near the Barnes Museum construction site.

I went over to check it out, and found the eyass looking perfectly at ease, looking back toward the nest and possibly at its mother in the nearby trees.

Some people on the street told me they had seen it eating and that around the front of the building there were feathers all over the sidewalk.  Sure enough, there were feathers everywhere.

At this point, I was joined by Mary Gamble Barrett who captured the eyass looking very smug as the current holder of the long distance flight record from the nest.

 

And then there was one....

 On Thursday, the rescued eyass remained quietly on the nest with no desire, seemingly, to venture out into the world again to join its siblings.

It sat, somewhat lethargically...

... watching the passing scene, showing little desire to flap and jump as its siblings did before they fledged.

Surprise!  One of the fledged eyasses arrived back at the nest.

It flapped vigorously as if to say, "Come on, here's what you do,"

... encouraging it to try.

The fledged eyass noticed some food scraps, and started to eat, all the while watched passively by #3.  This informal numbering is to keep track a bit of the fledging order.  The rescued eyass will be, hopefully, the third to fledge.

#3 then moved down onto the ledge...

... and watched its sibling eat.

The fledged eyass was still on the nest close to 5:00 PM today.

Mary Gamble Barrett captured the formel flying in with food for the unfledged eyass.

Hawkwatchers are starting to wonder if this eyass is OK.  John Blakeman shares this concern:

"[From the start] I was concerned by this eyass's off the nest escapades. Her lack of energy and activity on the ground before being rescued was not promising. The bird may have some sub-clinical or low-grade malady. She doesn't have her survival act together.  I hope that she matures and fledges, and flies and exists normally. But she's got one or two strikes against her already, I fear.

Should it transpire that this eyass fails to fledge properly, that it once again falls weakly to the ground, there will be a problem -- for humans. Inexperienced hawkwatchers fail to understand that 100% survival of progeny does not always happen. I've harped on the low annual survival rates of the fledglings in their first year in the sky [20%]. But eyasses also die on the nest, or just after fledging, as may happen with this eyass.

It will be a very difficult situation, where the bird will be rescued and taken to a hawk rehab center and nurtured to "health." But such birds have residual, systemic problems, the ones that caused the difficulties at the start. Merely feeding the bird does not usefully change things. The bird will eventually be released (if it can fly well enough), and then may soon become weak again. But there will be no parents to drop food. Game over, so badly.

Alternatively, the thought will be to release the bird back at the Franklin Institute.  Doubtless, the haggards would instantly "care" for the eyass, but its problems will not be caused by an absence of care or food. There is a probability that this bird is genetically or otherwise irretrievably deficient and is destined to die off the nest. I hope not, but this is a common, albeit sordid element of red-tail biology.

The Franklin hawk story is not entirely a Greek comedy. Sooner or later, there will be tragic elements (as there already are for the prey)."

--John Blakeman

                            *                 *                  *                  *                

On a happier note, the other two eyasses are doing magnificently, though their carelessly exuberant flight plans give hawkwatchers frequent anxiety attacks!

Yesterday, one of the eyasses decided to leave its perfectly safe rooftop and sail over to the fence alongside the six lane Vine Street expressway packed with rush hour traffic literally just feet below.

I felt slightly better when it nimbly turned around...

... then slightly worse when it seemed poised to fly down into the parking lot.  At the last moment, it angled up over Winter Street, and nonchalantly (but with visible pride in its landing skills!) settled onto a tree branch.

Yesterday morning and today, several of the incredibly talented hawkaholic photographers were at work beautifully documenting the hawks' progress - Mary Gamble Barrett, Joe Debold, George Lloyd, Kay Meng and Linda White - and have allowed me to post some of their images, many more of which can be found in their photo albums on the Franklin Hawkaholic Facebook page.

The ledges of the former school district building next to the Institute continue to be a favorite eating and launch pad for the eyasses.

This eyass is eating from a parental food drop, and is "mantling" its wings to warn off its sibling.  You can see fresh blood on those talons.

Both parents are in extremely close attendance.  Whenever you see an eyass, look around and you will eventually spot one of the haggards keeping watch.

The formel often perches on the absolute topmost branch of a nearby tree.  Huge as these birds seem, they are light in weight - she is barely bending these twigs

The tiercel is more a cliff than a tree guy, and he chooses the edges and ledges of the cliff-like buildings in this area...

... from which to keep watch over his offspring.

Do not for a moment be fooled into thinking this tiercel is a sweet, fluffy bird....

He is one of the top predators of all - a stone cold killer - as those bloodstained talons attest.  He and the formel are doing a fantastic job of keeping their always-hungry eyasses well fed.  They eat on any convenient flat surface, be it a car roof....

...or a stone ledge.

The eyasses are starting to develop their hunting skills.  Right now, their targets are pretty small - really small - bugs!

But you have to start somewhere....

.... and it takes a lot of concentration to catch a bug!

But these healthy young birds are quickly turning into regal hawks.  Let's keep fingers crossed that the third eyass will soon make a similar transition.

We have lift-off again, but who?

At around 5:30 AM today, another eyass fledged and flew the short distance down from the nest into the tree on the corner of Winter and 21st Streets. Most likely, this was yesterday's #3 who had stayed on the nest all day Monday watching the drama unfold below of the grounded eyass and its rescue.  This eyass had looked energetic, frequently flapping and jumping on the nest yesterday.

Carolyn Sutton, hawk follower extraordinaire who spent most of yesterday down on Winter St. keeping track of the action, was there again early this morning, witnessed the fledge, and caught this glimpse of today's nest jumper in its tree.

The eyass who remained on the nest today (Tuesday) seemed much less active, and was probably the grounded eyass rescued yesterday by Rick Schubert who noted that its feathers were not fully developed for flight.  Throughout today, this eyass sat on the nest, ate when food was dropped off by a haggard, but seemed content to lie low.

The eyass that fledged first on Sunday, known as #1, was located this morning on the mezzanine roof of the old school district building (now apartments) next to the Franklin Institute on the other side of 21st Street.

Linda White's image shows it sitting on the edge of the mezzanine roof. 

John Blakeman analysed the size and shape of its feet and ankles (tarsi) from various photographs, and is pretty certain that #1 is a tiercel (male).  He had also already concluded that there is a least one formel (female) among the three.

An apartment dweller came down to tell Carolyn and Linda that he had just watched this eyass eat heartily from a food drop by one of the parents.  It's good to know that #1 has been fed since he fledged, and that the haggards know exactly where he is.

#1 then found a sunny corner in which to stretch out and sleep off his breakfast.  His head is facing into the wall, and the tail is towards us with the wing tips poking up a little.

Linda also photographed the newly fledged eyass testing out its arboreal environment, hopping and flapping from branch to branch, and steadily making its way up the tree to the topmost branches....

... where it settled...

... and took stock of the situation.

Then with some vigorous flaps, it got ready to launch...

... and headed across 21st Street to a tree on Winter Street very close to the apartment building where its sibling was napping.

From a slightly different angle, Mary Gamble Barrett caught the moment of take-off as the newly fledged eyass flew strongly on its way to the tree across Winter Street.

This eyass's behavior, energetic, intentional and able to climb and fly, was in stark contrast to yesterday's fledged eyass who made no attempt to get off the ground, and sought only to find a safe spot to hide - first the lily patch, and then the Franklin Institute doorway - as close to the nest as it could get.  It is extremely unlikely that this eyass could transform in 14 hours to today's tree-climbing flyer.

So it seems that perhaps the youngest eyass mistakenly left the nest yesterday when it was nowhere near ready to fly.  If that is the case, it spent today very appropriately resting up after its ordeal, while its two older fledged siblings stayed relatively close, and all three were under the experienced supervision of the haggards.

Darryl Moran, the official Franklin Institute photographer, has generously allowed me to share the pictures he took yesterday documenting Rick Schubert's rescue and return of the eyass to the nest.  (Read the previous blog post for a more detailed account.)

Rick makes netting the downed hawk look so easy.

His assistant prepares to place the hood over the eyass's head...

... and now the eyass is calm and much less stressed.

Rick, a gifted teacher, explains the procedure to the onlookers...

... and then eases the hawk into a cardboard animal carrier to take it up to the Board Room.

Inside the Board Room, the Franklin Institute staff lift out the window pane that was specially designed for quick access to the nest, while Rick removes the hood from the eyass....

... and takes it out of the box.

The eyass is slipped through the window and put back on the nest....

.... where its sibling waits with a late lunch item.

Darryl also took pictures of eyass #1 showing off its oh-so-recently acquired landing and take-off skills.

It's astonishing how fierce and mature these eyasses can look one minute...

... and then so young and uncertain the next.

Eyass #1 is waving from the current epicenter of hawkdom!

Once again, I must thank these most talented photographers - Linda White, Mary Gamble Barret, Carolyn Sutton and Darryl Moran - for generously sharing their images.

Finally, a couple of factoids from Google analytics: over the past four days the daily readership of this blog has exploded from 226, 815, 1553, to 1901 on Tuesday!   While by far the largest group of Franklin Institute hawk enthusiasts comes from the United States, other countries with significant interest are Australia, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Poland, France, Italy and Brazil.

Our hawks are gaining an international following!