this is an update form the fall. From Gord. It is regarding the adult female from U of A that got her herself in trouble down at bell building and had to be rehabilitated
An update from Dr Court on the UofA adult female: As most of you know, the adult female that nested at the U of A was rescued off the 69th Floor of the Stantec Tower (undoubtedly the most expensive peregrine trap ever built) by the crew of WildNorth in very early September. The WildNorth veterinary crew very quickly assessed that the bird had tried to make its own exit through the glass of the building and had broken the base of her sternum, just to the right of the carina (keel). In Photo 1, the damaged area is circled and for orientation, the bird is on its back leaning to it’s left - the lower portion of the carina is appears just to the top of the circle and the large line to the left of it (your left) is the fracture – you can zoom in for a better look!
After conferring with the WildNorth folks, we thought the best case of action would be to hood and perch the bird for at least a month to allow healing. As she was fat (950 g), she could afford the period on inactivity until the bone knit and perhaps would be tame enough to be blocked out in a quiet part of my backyard for a bit. So, she spent about 10 days in my little bird hospital on a ledge perch, hooded – a perfect situation for fast-healing birds and eventually made it out to block perch beside Vinny. She was still pretty sore, not leaving the block for about 5 days, but taking and devouring 2 quail a day! After about a week, however, she began rowing (flapping wings) on the block and soon was jumping to the end of her leash up to (I estimate) about 200 times a day (IMG Video). It was becoming obvious she was getting ready to go.
So, in the first week of October, I weighed her (Photo 3) – hog-fat at 1060 g – she would not have to eat for more than a week to return to normal migrating weight if necessary. She was feather perfect, thanks to her tail guard installed by Carly and subsequent perch use, so I wrapped her up, removed the jesses, and banded her with a USFWS band and a rather special number on her ACRAFT band
– P21. I had spotted this band in a bag of bands that Steve Schwartze had out at the Pembina and grabbed it a souvenir. The original P21 was a bird that I spotted nesting at Flett Lake, North of Fort Chipewyan, in the summer of 1977 (I was only 17!). As black banded birds were new to the world at the time, we couldn’t wait to find out who she was. Well, it turns out that she was one of the first chicks produced at the Wainwright breeding facility to be fostered back to the wild in a nest near Fort Chip in 1975. She came back in 1977 to produce three young and became the first captive-raised peregrine falcon ever to return and breed in the wild (Photo 5). Pretty neat!
In any case, you can see that the new P 21 was perfect for release and even managed to moult in a pair of tail feathers, her Number 8 primary, and upper breast feathers (to match the ones that grew over the large gash in her breast last May)(Photo 7, P21 Tail Moult, Photo 10), while she was in captivity.
So. I took her out to South Cooking Lake (full of ducks and shorebirds at the time), pointed her into the wind, and off she went like a rocket!
Let’s hope we see her back at the U of A or some other territory next spring.
That was fun! Thanks to everyone who helped!
I will post the pictures in a bit i f possible
picutres
xray of injury
first part of rehab at wildnorth
she had to be immobilized
Gord taking her to his place for more rehab( the best for her. )
story of band Gord used. It is special to him so we are hoping it brings luck to our female
pictures of feathering that had moulted in
and our female on block days before gord decided to release her to migration.
Dr Court does not take these things lightly. He originally htought she may have ot winter over at his place but she was ready. Vinny is an educational bird Gord has. It was not releasable. I just love him and have held him several times
not sure if this short video from Dr court works
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/E_BOcT9yGQwI iwll be emailing Dr court to see ho w our juvenille is doing with the falconer.
Login
Register
FAQ
