Wildlife Rehabilitation Supervisor Kelsey Pleasants was recently interviewed by Radio IQ Charlottesville Bureau Chief Sandy Hausman on a rare visitor to the Wildlife Center of Virginia -- Mississippi Kite #22-2251. During the interview, Kelsey describes how the young raptor was initially identified as a Cooper's Hawk, and later on a Sharp-shinned Hawk. Observations during daily rehabilitative care made those identifications doubtful, though.
"He was not behaving like we would expect a sharp-shinned hawk to behave. He was not flying away from us. He was just standing and watching us calmly," she explains. "He also was not eating on his own. This guy has been offered mouse, chick, rat, quail – we were trying everything to get him to eat.”
As the young bird developed more flight feathers and began looking more like a juvenile raptor, though, "... that made everything click into place", Kelsey shared.
Click the image below to listen to the full story on Radio IQ's website:
