Q: What exactly is a Red-shouldered Hawk?

A:  Red-shouldered Hawks are medium-to-large, heavy-bodied birds, with broad wings and a long tail.  Adults have a barred, rust-colored pattern on their pale chest, reddish shoulders — hence their name — and a dark tail with several narrow white bands.  While soaring, a translucent crescent at the base of the primary feathers is visible.  Red-shouldered Hawks are found in the eastern half of the United States and in California.  They often are very vocal hawks!  Red-shouldered Hawks general avoid habitats where Red-tailed Hawks live, though the Red-shouldered Hawks can occupy the same territory as Barred Owls, since they do have the same preference for prey, but are active during different times of the day and night.

Q: What do Red-shouldered Hawks normally eat in the wild and what do Red-shouldered Hawks eat at the Wildlife Center?

A: Red-shouldered Hawks generally survive on a diet of small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and even crayfish!  #11-2633 was at first offered a diet of mice at the Wildlife Center, though after a brief period of not eating, the rehabilitation staff started offering chicks.  This Red-shouldered Hawk appears to favor a diet of birds. Red-shouldered Hawks are also diurnal, meaning they are active and hunt mostly during daylight hours.

Q: Will this hawk engage in live-prey training?

A: Yes.  Once the Red-shouldered Hawk is more adept at flying and is closer to release, live prey will be placed in its enclosure and our staff (and viewers!) will be able to witness it perch hunting.

Q: What is the gender of #11-2633?

 A: Because determining the gender of any raptor involves DNA testing or internally scoping the bird, the Wildlife Center staff rarely attempt to determine the gender for raptor we plan on eventually releasing; therefore, we are uncertain if this bird is female or male. If you are interested in reading more about the tricky nature of determining the gender of raptors please explore here.   

Q:  How much does Red-shouldered Hawk #11-2633 weigh?

A:  Weights on this hawk have ranged from 920 grams to 1.0 kg while it has been at the Wildlife Center.  On average, Red-shouldered Hawks may weigh about 650 grams, with females larger than the males.  Since this hawk is heavier than the average weight, we could “guess” that the hawk is female.

Q:  How big are Red-shouldered Hawks?

A:  On average, Red-shouldered Hawks are about 17 inches in length, and have a wing-span of just over three feet.  They are smaller than Red-tailed Hawks and larger than Broad-winged Hawks.  We have not measured this Red-shouldered Hawk.

Q: How old is #11-2633 and how long do Red-shouldered Hawks normally live?

A:  Based on plumage, we do know that Red-shouldered Hawk #11-2633 is an adult.  Immature Red-shouldered Hawks are brown on their backs and have brown streaks on their chest, rather than the distinguishing rust-colored pattern of the adults.  Adult plumage appears in the hawk’s second year.  According to the Birds of North America online, first-year mortality rates of Red-shouldered Hawks are high — in one study, only about 50% of hatched Red-shouldered Hawks survived to be one year old.  For those that survive their first year, Red-shouldered Hawks can live to be 15-19 years old in the wild, with one report of a 26-year-old hawk!

Q: What can you tell us about the enclosure the hawk is in?

A: The enclosure featured on the Critter Cam [FP6]  is actually the same enclosure that housed many of our previously featured Critter Cam raptors. The enclosure is one of the older structures on site. It was constructed in the mid-90s and rests in the middle of “the hill” behind the Wildlife Center.  It is slightly shorter on one end (the end furthest from the camera) due to its position on the slope of the mountain. Overall, it is roughly 42 feet in length and ranges from 7 to 11 feet tall. This pen is just one of three in a flight pen complex with a double-door system. 

Q: When will the Red-shouldered Hawk be released?  

A: The Center’s veterinarian and rehabilitation staff is monitoring #11-2633 closely. At the moment its fractured wing appears to be healing well and the staff are hoping for a full recovery within the first couple months of 2012. When the hawk is capable of flying again, with good stamina and endurance, and demonstrates that it can provide for itself, it will be released!

LOCATION OF RESCUE:  Albemarle County, Virginia

CAUSE OF ADMISSION:  Hit by car

ADMISSION DATE: December 4, 2011

PROGNOSIS: Good

In early December 2011, rescuers in Albemarle County saw a Red-shouldered Hawk as it was hit by a car.  They rescued the hawk from the side of the road and brought it to the Wildlife Center. 

The young Red-shouldered Hawk, patient #11-2633, was examined by Dr. Adam Naylor.  Dr. Adam found a fractured ulna on the hawk’s left wing, and was able to take radiographs to confirm.  The hawk also had a laceration on its right foot, which was cleaned and bandaged.  Dr. Adam noted old, small retinal scars in both of the hawk’s eyes as well — these were not caused by the collision with the vehicle.  Based on the location of the scars in the hawk’s retinas, Dr. Adam did not think that the hawk’s vision was compromised — particularly since the hawk was in good body condition when it was admitted.

Dr. Adam bandaged the hawk’s wing to stabilize the fracture.  By mid-December, follow-up radiographs were taken, indicating that the fractured ulna was healing nicely.  The team started physical therapy on the Red-shouldered Hawk, to ensure that the extension of the hawk’s injured wing was not compromised due to the bandage.  For a week and a half, the veterinary team anesthetized the hawk every three days and performed the physical therapy — stretching the hawk’s wing.  At the start of the physical therapy, the hawk was getting about 60 – 75 % extension — but within a week and a half, the extension had greatly improved.

The Red-shouldered Hawk went through a brief spell of not eating — the veterinary team ending up force-feeding the bird while the rehabilitation staff experimented with the diet and time of day at which the hawk was fed.  In the end, they discovered that this hawk has a preference for eating birds rather than rodents — and so the hawk is currently fed one chick each day.

On December 23, the hawk’s bandage was removed, and the bird was moved outside into a small enclosure a week later.  On January 10, the Red-shouldered Hawk was moved into a flight pen and the rehabilitation staff began exercising the hawk within a few days. 

As of mid-January, the hawk is flying the length of the enclosure about six to seven times during an exercise session.  While the hawk looks good so far, the staff anticipate that the hawk will be here for several more weeks, building up stamina and strength.

January 26 update

Red-shouldered Hawk #11-2633 continues to fly well in the FP-6 enclosure. While the rehabilitation staff have found the hawk to be a bit stubborn during exercise sessions, thanks to a web cam, they are well aware of how active the hawk is in the enclosure by itself. 

The hawk does have a left wing droop, though does not appear to have any trouble getting around because of it — actually, the hawk appears to have great wing extension. Because the wing droop has been fairly pronounced within the past week, a five-day course of ant-inflammatories will be prescribed, in case the droop is pain-related.  The veterinary team will continue to monitor the hawk closely.

The veterinary team will catch-up the Red-shouldered Hawk on January 30 for a foot and feather check as well as a weigh-in.  The bird continues to eat well.

January 30 update

Red-shouldered Hawk #11-2633 was caught up today for a foot and feather check, as well as a physical examination.  The hawk continues to have a pronounced wing droop, though the veterinary team did not feel any crepitus [grating or popping sounds associated with injury] and they report that the hawk has good extension on that wing.  The five-day course of anti-inflammatories did not have any effect on the wing droop, suggesting that this is not pain-related.  Dr. Miranda plans on taking a set of radiographs on January 31, just to ensure there are no other problems developing.

February 1 update

On January 31, Red-shouldered Hawk #11-2633 was brought into the hospital for radiographs.  On the radiographs, Dr. Miranda saw evidence of boney changes on the bird’s left humerus, though the joint space does not appear to be affected. The wing is mildly swollen, though Dr. Miranda did not feel any abnormalities in the bird’s tendons. The ulna fracture is fully healed with only a very mild misalignment.

At this point, the changes to the bird’s humerus are of concern, although the vet staff feels that the changes are subtle and stable enough to keep the hawk in the flight pen.  It can be tricky to anticipate what boney changes may mean — though it is important to keep in mind that it can just be another stage of healing [as seen on NX's radiographs in mid-December].

Treatment with anti-inflammatories will be extended for the next two weeks, and another set of radiographs will be taken on February 13.  

Frequently Asked Questions about Red-shouldered Hawks

Your donation will help support the Center’s work with patients like this Red-shouldered Hawk … and with 2,500 other wild animals in need.

“A General Contractor providing preconstruction, construction, and construction management services to private and public owners and developers of commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings located throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

In late April 2011 – shortly after the arrival of  the three eaglets from the Norfolk Botanical Gardens – the Wildlife Center of Virginia  began looking around the community for help with a significant upgrade to the Center’s 100-foot eagle flight pen. Kjellstrom & Lee, a general contractor with offices in Richmond and Staunton, stepped forward to help with this project.  The firm supplied the staff to make the significant overhaul – all in a matter of only a few days. 

The Center has engaged Kjellstrom & Lee to help with a number of other construction projects.  Funds for these projects come from a variety of sources – the sale of the 2011 Garden of Eagles calendar; the Chase Community Giving “Big Idea” grant; a grant from the Merck Company Foundation, and donations from many generous Center supporters. Kjellstrom & Lee construction supervisor Aric Olsen has been assigned to the Wildlife Center to oversee and supervise this work. 

Aric has agreed to provide an overview of these constructions projects and periodic web progress reports.  Thanks to Aric and his team! 

Scope of Work 2011

The principal officers of Kjellstrom & Lee are truly committed to the community here in the Shenandoah Valley.  It is that commitment and sense of community that made possible our current partnership with the Wildlife Center of Virginia. 

In the fall of 2011, Kjellstrom & Lee Construction kicked off the first of many projects with Buddy’s new home – a project made possible through the sale of the 2011 Garden of Eagles calendars.   Today, Buddy resides in a 20’ x 24’ enclosure. The base of the structure is a post-and-pile construction of treated 6′ x 6′ sunk into the earth and framed to provide a level base for the distinctive Quonset-style ribbed cage. A small workroom was also built at the back of the structure to facilitate Buddy’s daily maintenance (training, weight, etc.)

Next up was a new flight pen (A3). The pen is constructed around 30’ power poles – special thanks to  Dominion Virginia Power for donating the labor to drive in these poles.  The pen  measures just short of 90’ x 16’ x 24’ in overall dimension. The sides are treated 1″ x 6″ boards, spaced to allow the smallest of raptors to be housed safely here. On the north side, oriented at the center of the flight pen, is a raptor tower designed for fledglings to nest in a secure location while still observing an adult bird of the same species in the larger flight pen space. The “mouse school” area is the final feature; this lies at ground level and occupies the central third of the pen. Lined with a metal skin and equipped with closing doors of aluminum, the school quickly converts to a modified hunting ground for a raptor undergoing rehabilitation.  Construction of the new flight pen was made possible through the sale of the 2011 Garden of Eagles calendar, a grant from the Dominion Foundation, and the support of caring individuals.

Along the way, we have improved many of the paths  around the Center. Kjellstrom & Lee has added a series  of treated 4 x 6 steps filled with gravel to help the staff  move safely around the outdoor enclosures that house the Center’s education animals and patients. As part of this ‘upgrade’, we also built a new bench for Buddy’s legion of visitors.

Projects currently under construction

The “Geek Shack”:

One of the integral pieces of the 2012 facility upgrade is the installation of an information technology system that will allow live data to be streamed to the wildlife community via webcams. To the construction engineer, that means burying utilities, power lines, and data cable throughout the campus. All of these need to come together at a central location and link to a bank of servers; those servers will be housed in an IT building constructed in a central location. Built outside, between two sets of raptors pens, the so-called “Geek Shack” is a small, two-room, 19’ x 12’ building. The smaller room (approximately 8’x 10’) will be temperature-controlled for the security of the future servers. The second room is reserved for storage and will remain unfinished.

Installation of the conduit itself has been completed. The remaining elements of this phase include pulling conduit and hooking up the actual cables and power lines … et voila! The web community will be able to tune into two different webcams, with provisions for additional cameras as they are added in the future.

The Waterfowl Facility:

Designed for duck, geese, loons, herons, and other types of water-dwelling avian species that construction people know nothing about, the future waterfowl facility is perhaps the most complicated of the projects outlined for construction at the Center — at least from a building standpoint. There will be  four aquatic pools that need enough heat and/or circulation in them to keep the water contained from freezing, a fifth stand-alone pool for larger waterfowl, and a bank of mini-tanks for aquatic turtles.

As of January 2012, this project is in design and preparation; we are tentatively scheduled  to start this task next … stay tuned.

The Aviary:

The existing songbird aviary inarguably needs major repairs. The years of use have been hard on this structure, warping and bending the existing floor joists beyond mending. This project starts with clearing the existing structure, as I do not believe any of it is salvageable, and beginning the construction process with 6’ x 6’ post/pile/beam construction. A simple (and partial) shed roof will be at the entrance and sheltering a hallway running the length of the building; we will be extending that roof to provide partial cover for the cages themselves.

The existing building measures 17’ x 41’, but the new structure should demand a larger footprint. Shrinking the overall width of the building to 16’ will decrease the cost (we can order dimensional lumber), and adding two extra eight-foot cages will meet the Wildlife Center’s needs for space. An interesting note – the  final cage will be specially designed for Virginia woodpeckers; the cage itself will be lined with specific wood siding and altered to provide the birds with excellent footholds (talon-holds?) to continue their recovery.

The piece that is missing here, at least currently, is the material for the floor system. The solution that works the best is a metal grate system (possibly surplus from another construction site) covered in permeable hard cloth. In turn, these layers will be covered with aggregate gravel that will provide the birds with a place to land.

The Wildlife Center has thoughts and ideas for other projects too — but these are the ones that will be focused on in the immediate future.

Current Construction Report: January 9 – January 13, 2012

• This week saw most of the construction focus on the “Geek Shack” — the IT building. The lumber package was delivered from a Charlottesville supplier last Saturday (7 Jan 2012). The team started with a vacant slab Tuesday morning after modifying the adjacent flight pen on Monday. By Friday, the structure itself has been framed; we trimmed soffits and vented the area above the ceiling at the end of the week.

• We also started to  remodel some of the education pens – specifically, the homes of  Quinn the Great-Horned Owl and Grayson the Broad-winged Hawk.  We pulled out the aging chain-link fencing that was used to provide security for these animals and began framing a new façade that will include the same one-inch square, vinyl covered metal fabric we used for Buddy’s enclosure.

The team will finish this project during the week of January 16.

• We also cleared the gates for the staff here at the center (they were frozen and full of leaves), extended a portion of the walkway leading to the two-door system mentioned above, and fixed that pesky little latch that kept refusing to work and trapped the staff in the “C” pens until awaiting rescue.

Current Construction Report: January 16 – January 20, 2012

We had a late start this week because of Martin Luther King Day, but I heard very little complaining here at the Wildlife Center.  Temperatures in the Shenandoah Monday at 6:00 a.m. were 14° F; the wind chill drove the temperature at ground level to 6°… No, I did not hear much complaining at all.  We worked a four-day week starting Tuesday and still finished everything on my schedule; I am fortunate to have the talented, disciplined construction team we have put together.

• The “Geek Shack” exterior trim was completed this week.  The large hole you see in the wall near the ground level is sized for the through-wall unit we will be using to control the temperature once the servers are installed.  We also changed an issue I had with the original gable vents; I ordered them a touch too large.  The octagonal vent in this picture is the finished (modified) product. 

The electricians are scheduled to pull wire next week, and the IT cable will be installed following that.  We are, I believe, one step closer to providing the expanded and upgraded webcam network you are all waiting for…

• The facelift on the trio of education raptor pens turned into a larger project than I originally planned for.  The aesthetics the public will see are complete; again the crew turned in some fine work, as you can see.  The roof, however, was rotten through.  Grayson, Quinn, and the “Chimney Owl” (I am suggesting the name “Smokey”) will have to wait a few more days while the crew re-sheets the structure and give these animals a place to hide from the elements.

Before:

After:

• As for miscellaneous projects, we finished the stair heading up to the mammal pens this week and, in a desperate effort to keep the staff here at the Center happy as they work on a library re-design, installed a new closed-circuit monitor system in the library to help with their educational needs.

• On tap for next week, in addition to the interior work on at the “Geek Shack,” we can see the proverbial light at the end of tunnel on the access paths around the Center.  A short path to the “FP 4-6” pens should finish this to-do list by the middle of the week.

Current Construction Report:  January 23 — January 27, 2012

This has been one of those quiet, exceptionally productive weeks we seldom have in the world of construction.  We had a solid plan going into the week … and most of it worked the way we thought it would.

• The “Geek Shack” interior is close to finished.  The electricians came in and completed their work Tuesday and Wednesday; we’re one step closer to multiple streaming feeds to the Critter Nation.  Thursday and Friday saw the insulation being completed, interior ceilings hung (no fancy finishes for the service room; the plywood is the finish), and a sorely needed set of shelves constructed.  We also did a little touch-up on the gate and fence approaching the structure.

The next step is to install a new electrical switch at the main panel inside the Center itself.  This requires some extra coordination, and we are still waiting for the switch itself to come in from the mid-west.  The plan for next week is to wait with patience until I can get everyone lined up.

• The facelift on some of the Education Pens is complete; we promised to get the roof re-sheeted last week and did not let you down.  We even had some time to improve some of the perches and training platforms inside the cages themselves.  “Quinn,” “Grayson,” and “Smokey” (I still like the name) should be home next week.

• Miscellaneous projects for the week included the approach to flight pens #4-6 (Yep…that pile of cable in the picture is the famous “critter cam” and those orange cords are its power source … can you see why we are upgrading this stuff?), some general clean-up around the grounds, and dropping an old snag of a tree before it fell on the Center’s box truck (Whew! Just in time!)

• Next week is a planning week for Kjellstrom & Lee, so we will see very little activity on site at the Center.  Aviaries and water pools take some thinking and design so I can put it together the right way.

See you next Friday!

Current Construction Report:  January 30 — February 3, 2012

We have news!  After scheduling and calculating and procuring and doing the rest of the things that construction people do when we are planning a project, we finally came up with enough solutions to start the Aviary project.  Editor’s note:  The aviary is where the Wildlife Center houses all songbirds – both juveniles and adults.  In the spring and summer, it is a very busy place – housing scores of songbirds.  WCV friends may remember reading about an “aviary adventure” in one of our 2011 Year in Review stories.

• Next week will involve demolition of the existing structure; there is a picture of the building in my “scope of work” notes above, but I am including a few more so the web community can see where we are starting from. 

The aviary itself is the building on the right in the first picture below; it has yellow shade cloth on the left half of it.  The other (metal) structure is the existing waterfowl pen and this is also scheduled to be recycled.

There are five cages for potential use inside this old (existing) aviary; the replacement building will have eight:  six standard 8’x 12’ cages, one over-sized 8’ x 20’ pen and one permanently outfitted for Virginia woodpeckers.  In addition, because we are eliminating the current capacity for waterfowl care, we are going to install a pool for temporary care in one of the cages.  Long-term care for waterfowl is being addressed with a new building which is currently being re-designed.

• Any work done this week was incidental to preparing for Monday.  Dumpster delivery, equipment transfer and some quick repairs on NX’s flight pen … I may have to reconfigure that zoom feature on Amanda’s camera before climbing any more ladders.

• The crew will be back to work Monday morning, and we are planning on several pictures through the course of the week.  For my part, I will be laying out a new building, and making a mess.

If you have any questions for Aric on these projects, please direct them to outreach@wildlifecenter.org — and he can answer them in future weekly updates.

Your donation will help the Wildlife Center care for some 2,500 patients this year — and will help continue to improve the enclosures in which those patients are housed.  Please help!

LOCATION OF RESCUE:  Prince William County, Virginia

INJURY:  Lead toxicity

ADMISSION DATE: January 11, 2012

OUTCOME: Died January 12, 2012

A mature Bald Eagle was found down in Manassas in Prince William County on January 10 and was taken to a veterinary clinic in Burke, Virginia. The veterinary at the clinic could not find any wounds on the bird and took a set of radiographs.  On January 11, a volunteer transporter picked up the eagle and brought it to the Wildlife Center of Virginia.

Upon admission, the Bald Eagle #12-0030 appeared to be showing signs of lead toxicity.  Dr. Miranda quickly performed a physical examination, and drew blood for the Center’s in-house lead testing machine.  No injuries were found other than an old keel fracture, but the lead analyzer confirmed that the bird was suffering from lead toxicity – at levels that were too high for the Center’s machine to read.  

While there are a variety of lead testing machines on the market, the one at the Wildlife Center reads levels up to 0.65 ppm.  Studies at The Raptor Center in Minnesota have shown that levels over 1.0 ppm are usually associated with damage or destruction of the optic nerves, rendering the bird blind.

A blood sample will be sent to an outside lab for further testing – these results should be available within a few days.  In the meantime, chelation therapy was started.  Due to an increased respiratory effort, the eagle was placed in an oxygen cage after the physical examination.

On the morning of January 12, the eagle was still not standing.  Treatment will continue and the bird will be transferred to a critical care chamber so that it may continue to receive oxygen therapy.

January 12 update, 2:00 p.m.

After a morning of continued respiratory effort, despite oxygen therapy, Bald Eagle #12-0030 died this afternoon.

January 20 update

The lead results cam back from the outside laboratory — so the Wildlife Center staff received clarification on how high the “off the charts” levels were.  The eagle had lead levels of 3.4 ppm.

Your donation will help support the Center’s work with patients like this Bald Eagle … and with 2,500 other wild animals in need.