Guess what I got for Easter... (pics)

[BlueMoon]

... Chocolate, cute socks with cats on them, and a very very angry red-tailed hawk:



He was staying with another rehabber for prey-training, and I picked him up this morning to bring him back to the wildlife hospital. He was definitely not as happy to see me as I was to see him. He's a juvenile, and originally came to us after he crashed through a glass window.

[Scubbs]

Oh wow, he's gorgeous!  And so angry looking 

[aphoeniceus]

Beautiful raptor!  I volunteer for a rehab place here in Fort Collins Colorado and last weekend me and this other volunteer Jen rescued a very small female Red-tailed with a HUGE attitude.  He reminds me of her when I was giving her SQ fluids, not a happy bird  hehe.

[redslurpee]

That ain't no marshmallow peep!

I wish I looked half so beautiful when
I'm that cranky 

Why is he back? What's prey training -
doesn't he already know how to hunt?
Will he be released soon?

Alfie & Georgie say THANK YOU for not
having that guy in the car when you
chauffered them around!

[Ratwings]

WOW.  Good luck with his rehabbing, I hope he's well and flying free soon.

[Lone Star Rats]

Awww!! So cute!!  We have a RTH that lives in the trees on our property... it's always flying around going after the mice and things we have around here (*cry* like bunnies).... talk about a BIG birdie.. it's great to watch him/her hunt.. like the discovery channel in my yard!

[aphoeniceus]

Why is he back? What's prey training -
doesn't he already know how to hunt?
Will he be released soon?

At the rehab center I volunteer for, we prey train the juvenile raptors because usually they dont know how to hunt really well, so we would rather know if they can hunt adequately before we release them.  For Red-tails, we usually put in a couple live mice that they hunt.  We call this "mouse school"  hehe.  So once we know that all of them can hunt pretty well, off they go!  If we get them when they are adults, we usually just rehab them and release them without live prey testing because we already know that they know how to hunt if they have made it that far.

[BlueMoon]

Why is he back? What's prey training -
doesn't he already know how to hunt?
Will he be released soon?

Aphoeniceus pretty much nailed what prey training is. A young bird may have still been learning how to hunt at the time he was injured, and for the last couple months, this guy has been getting his meals served to him daily. We want to make sure he's fully able to catch his own food before we release him. 

He's back with us just for a couple days, he's being released tomorrow night. I think the only reason we got him back is because the wildlife hospital is closer to the release site than the other rehabber's house was (also, I needed an excuse to visit this particular rehabber - he has a bobcat and I wanted to see it. ).

Alfie & Georgie say THANK YOU for not
having that guy in the car when you
chauffered them around!

ROFL, I wouldn't be surprised if Alfie and George could smell a little evidence of the last 59802405 zillion animals that have been in my car... 

[Swedish Nightingale]

He's not the Easter Bunny... but if you give him a chance, he might bring you the Easter Bunny. Mmm... fresh kill.

NICE! I would be terrified of holding him... birds aren't my thing.

[AnnieB]

I would be terrified of holding him... birds aren't my thing.

I am so with you on that one...  Birds have always had a thing for me... They chase me.. ducks chase me...geese chase me,  bluejays swoop out of the air to dive bomb me.. I swear I got talked into watching a friend's african grey whilst they were on holiday.. and this wing clipped bird LEAPT off his perch and ran down the hallway ON THE GROUND flapping his wings and squawking like a mad thing toward me!    My friend was absolutely astounded at her 'sweet' bird.

I truly thought about becoming a large animal vet before I decided to become a people vet   It was the working with birds in school that dissuaded me from trying.

My husband says it's because I'm a mouse and birds see me as lower on the food chain.  He might have something there...

Annie in Norway

PS Gorgeous bird though!

[Swedish Nightingale]

I am so with you on that one...  Birds have always had a thing for me... They chase me.. ducks chase me...geese chase me,  bluejays swoop out of the air to dive bomb me.. I swear I got talked into watching a friend's african grey whilst they were on holiday.. and this wing clipped bird LEAPT off his perch and ran down the hallway ON THE GROUND flapping his wings and squawking like a mad thing toward me!    My friend was absolutely astounded at her 'sweet' bird.

Check this out, then! (It's hilarious, really.)

Sinister Ducks!

[aphoeniceus]

I LOVE all birds, I am such a bird nerd 

I go birdwatching, I am part of birdwatching forums, I volunteer with birds, all the summer jobs I have work with researching birds, yeah I am addicted hehe.