ST Augustine Record
In the news: In late January a young peregrine falcon -- not often seen here -- was recovering after nearly dying from major injuries. No one can say exactly how it got hurt, though wildlife experts said it might have crashed into a car or other object in a high-speed dive.
Peregrine falcons, endangered for years by the pesticide DDT, once had few nests east of the Mississippi but now migrate through the state on their way to South America.
Dr. Mark Gendzier, a veterinarian from St. Johns Veterinary Clinic, placed pins in the radius of the bird's left wing and repaired the tibiotarsus in its right leg.
The bird was released to wildlife rehabilitator Melanie Stage of H.A.W.K.E., a nonprofit that cares for injured local wildlife.
Stage did not expect the bird to recover enough to be released into the wild.
What the bird's doing now: Stage said it took six months for the bird, whose name is now Kenya, to totally heal from its injuries.
Stage can't tell yet whether the young bird is male or female.
The pins were removed from its wing and physical therapy helped get its leg working again.
"The leg had to be fused in a comfortable position because it was too bad to be fixed," she said.
Stage said the bird can't fly any more but is in training to be an education bird.
"It wouldn't survive in the wild but it's doing great in captivity," she said.
She said the bird, which gets regular meals of quail, can now sit on a glove or a perch and will soon be making the rounds.
Kenya
