A female Peregrine Falcon — the keystone of the successful effort to reintroduce these rare birds to Richmond — has been admitted to the Wildlife Center of Virginia.
The Peregrine Falcon was found on the ground, injured and unable to fly, on East Cary Street in Richmond on Monday, October 11. She was picked up by A. K. Taylor of Richmond Animal Control and taken to the Cary Street Animal Hospital.
The falcon was examined by Dr. Kimberly Kuhn. Dr. Kuhn took x-rays of the bird and, in consultation with Wildlife Center veterinarian Dr. Miranda Sadar, concluded that the falcon should be brought to the Center in Waynesboro. Volunteer transporter Michael Knight drove the falcon to the Center, arriving at about 9 p.m.
At admission, the falcon was assigned Patient #10-2118 and examined by Dr. Sadar, assisted by Dr. Marc Isidoro Ayza [from Spain] and Pedro Paulo Giese Krindges [a veterinary student from Brazil]. In addition to a coracoid fracture identified in the earlier x-rays, the Center vet team found injuries to the falcon’s right shoulder and a detached retina in the bird’s right eye. Given that all of the injuries are on the same side of the bird, Center vets surmise that the falcon may have hit the side of a building or some other object.
Center vets administered pain medications, fluids, and anti-inflammatories and secured the falcon in a body wrap.
The falcon — a large female [weight of 1 kg] — has been identified by Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries biologists as the female from the pair of peregrines that have been nesting in downtown Richmond since 2003 — first at the BBT Building, and more recently on the west building of the Riverfront Plaza. This pair has produced numerous offspring, included chicks that have been used to introduce peregrines into other areas of Virginia. This female also has been the “star” of the VDGIF Falcon Cam – a web-based camera focused on the falcon’s nest.
[Earlier this year, the Center admitted and transferred for release a juvenile Peregrine Falcon -- likely one of the hatchlings from this Riverfront Plaza nest.]
The Peregrine Falcon is a native species to Virginia, once nesting in the Allegheny and Blue Ridge Mountains. By the early 1960s, the falcon was believed to be extinct as a breeding species in Virginia and all areas east of the Mississippi River — a decline linked to the widespread use of DDT and other chemicals. A program of peregrine reintroduction began in Virginia in 1978. There are now about 20 known breeding paris of peregrines in Virginia.
So sad.
