Hit by Truck Red-tailed Hawk

This young Red-tailed Hawk was admitted after colliding with a truck. Thankfully the people involved pulled over, stayed with the injured hawk and started making phone calls to get help for the bird. Upon admission the hawk was laying down, obtunded and not very responsive to his surroundings. I wasn't sure the bird was going to pull through. He had an obvious mandible fracture as well as a lower leg fracture but given his critical condition, I was concerned there were significant internal injuries. Given his condition (& mandible fracture), I placed a catheter to administer fluid therapy while he was recovering. I didn't want to handle the bird too much or manipulate his injured beak so the intraosseous catheter was the best choice to keep the bird stable and hydrated. After 2 days of treatment, he showed signs of improving and was standing upright. I stabilized his fractured leg with casting material. He had use of his foot and digits which was positive. When he was stable, I brought him to Lakeshore Veterinary Clinic for xrays to assess the extent of his fractures. He was later transferred to the National Wildlife Centre to have his mandible realigned and stabilized. He came back to me that same day and his beak healed in good alignment over the next several weeks. Given the leg and mandible fractures, he required pain medication and anti-inflammatory while healing. His food was cut up into bite sized pieces while he healed from these injuries. Eventually he started grasping his food with the affected leg and was able to tear food apart with his beak. He was doing so well in care and continuing to make improvements. It was so nice to see his progression over time. I eventually transferred him to BCRR for larger space in their flight enclosure prior to banding him and releasing him on a quiet country road!

On admission in critical condition

Improving after a couple of weeks in care!