Roanoke, Virginia – A Virginia wildlife center had a mystery on its hands when an adult hawk was found grounded in a driveway about a mile from its facility in Roanoke. The Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke said the normal culprits were examined when the hawk was first taken in … lead toxicity, eye issues, head trauma, emaciation, bruising from any kind of collision or altercation.
But there was nothing obvious that presented itself – hence the mystery.
The hawk’s inability to fly was determined to be because of her weight! The agency said, “The diagnosis: At over 910g in weight, she was too darn fat to fly! We couldn’t even palpate her keel due to the heavy layer of fat covering it. 😭😂😭It is RARE for wild animals to become obese without human intervention, so how could this happen? Was she a lost falconry bird? Someone was feeding her? Was she an escaped (illegally-kept) captive hawk?”
And sure enough, the reason for this hawk’s overindulgence was found – free range chickens from a neighbor who lives near the finder’s residence had been disappearing at an “alarming” rate. The wildlife agency said:
This queen was picking off the buffet of easy prey set out before her, eating her fill, and then snoozing in the trees nearby until she was ready to eat again. The chickens were let out in the morning, she ate another, and repeat.
After weeks of repeating this feasting and sleeping, it’s no wonder she got too fat to fly! 😅
The queen was placed on an appropriate diet, and this weekend, the wildlife center said that she is now about to fly again!
Update on the Queen Herself, Miss RSHA 26-2599. She’s flying again! 🥳
This is the Red-shouldered Hawk who feasted on too many free range chickens and became too fat to fly. In a little over a month, she’s dropped around 130g with proper diet and exercise.
Now, with some extra weight off, she’s starting to fly once again! 💪z
She is getting healthier but still has some weight shedding to do!
There’s still a long way to go until release but we’re thrilled with the progress! She is still significantly overweight for an adult RSHA, and she can only do 4-5 laps in her flight pen before she’s exhausted (it’s a lot of bird to keep in the air, after all!)
Follow the wildlife center on Facebook at this link.
Support National Animal News — shop official merchandise to help fund
independent investigations and reporting.
