Shot Peregrine found at San Francisco Airport

[MAK]

SFO update:

http://stewartfalcon.wordpress.com/author/stewartfalcon/

Thank you Kris.

 

[Kris G.]

Today's update on SFO:

http://stewartfalcon.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/sfo-rehab-lesson/

[Kris G.]

I received this email update today:



SFO Update 3.5.13
by stewartfalcon


First, the overdue update: he's fine and the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit story has not yet aired.

In the photo above, he is resting in my arms after sedation to make possible a thorough x-ray examination by avian specialist Dr. Fern Van Sant at her For the Birds Clinic in San Jose. You may recall that his first x-rays were taken without sedation and the bullet, not the shoulder dislocation, was the diagnostic focus. After six weeks I wanted to get an update on his medical condition with my favorite and trusted bird doctor. It is clear that he suffered an avulsion fracture at the humerus joint -- a small piece of bone was broken loose by a tendon when he was shot or when he impacted the ground after he was shot.

Our treatment approach has been to rest him for three weeks and then begin modest exercise. He has shown enormous progress. He was unable to fly at all when found or when given the opportunity to fly in an aviary but 6 1/2 weeks later flies free 150 yards to the lure. On the other hand, he was unable to achieve climbing flight last Thursday making him nowhere near releasable condition. Thus the trip to the Doctor to help sort things out (cost: $253 paid by SCPBRG).

The Predatory Bird Research Group rehabilitation permit was a relic from a time when we took in non-releasable falcons to add to our flock of captive breeders. I gave that up when I became director in 2007. I work with birds like SFO under the authority of my falconry permit and in cooperation with permitted rehabilitators--in this case, Peninsula Humane. I am considering an application for my own rehab permit to accommodate birds like this one.

My contact is the wildlife supervisor at Peninsula Humane and her personal life is in some sort of upheaval right now and she may have left her job yesterday. Thus I am in a sort of limbo at the moment. Compounding the issue is that Peninsula Humane tells me that the US Fish and Wildlife Service prefers euthanasia when there is potential for chronic pain. I do not know how much pain this animal is in but I know that he does not hesitate to fly smoothly across the meadow when called and that he sometimes bates strongly away from his perch in my weathering yard. I cannot know what he feels but I do know that animals differ in their sensory ability: humans have ten thousand taste buds whereas raptors have about one hundred. Falcons see ultraviolet light -- humans do not. Falcons have over one million photo-receptive cone cells per square millimeter on the retina -- the human eye has only about two hundred thousand. Just saying that a raptor might react differently to a two-month old injury than we might.
Dr. Van Sant evaluated the x-rays and suggested that we give this bird more time in the hope that he continues to improve and so that we can learn more about this injury and I agree. She will write a medical opinion for the US Fish and Wildlife Service.


I leave you with a photo of SFO taken after a flight last week when he was unable to climb to a pigeon but eventually took it near the ground.

[Kris G.]

Another update on SFO:

http://stewartfalcon.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/news-airdate-todays-flight/

[MAK]

Another update on SFO:

http://stewartfalcon.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/news-airdate-todays-flight/

Sounds promising! 

[Donna]

Poor pigeon! I thought falcons did NOT eat the heads! 

[Donna]

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/Peregrine-Falcon-Shot-at-SFO-196633711.html

Questions, questions......why?

[Kris G.]

SFO Update 3.14.13
by stewartfalcon 

I am going to go out on a limb and say that I saw slight improvement in today's flight. He chased a homing pigeon briefly then circled back to a fence post and planted a solid landing. He waited there while I walked to the other side of the pasture--a distance of about 150 yards--then flew immediately to the lure when it was presented.

Our routine has been for him to make one flight and then rest for a day. I have been giving him a full meal on the lure at the end of the flight. It is probably time to kick it up a notch. I do not want to overdo it, but I think we can find new ways to challenge him a little more with more flights per day or longer flights between two people when an assistant is available.

Please do not get overly hopeful as the slight improvement that I thought I detected is still a long way from independence in the wild.

[MAK]

A slight improvement sounds good to me! 

[Kris G.]

http://stewartfalcon.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/changing-the-subject/

                       

[Donna]

Ahh, so sad, don't like these posts! Fly Free!  

[patsy6]

Fly free and painlessly, SFO.

[OlRedHair]

So sad!


Nora in NW Florida

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