Hanging by a Wing
Such an innocuous thing – a piece of string, likely from a kite. Innocuous, maybe, to the human eye, but one that could have – probably would have – led to death for American Kestrel 24-1169 if it weren’t for a circuitous, obstacle-strewn relay of concerned folks – more evidence that it really does “take a village.”
On the PWC hotline that Sunday in May, Kim Jeffrey took a call from a woman in Nipomo. Paula Scott had been walking her dog when she saw a bird hanging by its left wing from a tree, entangled in something and struggling to free itself. Jeffrey contacted the Rescue/Transport person on call, Jack Zenglein, who headed to the site.
The first obstacle was that the tree was on private property, fenced and locked, so they couldn’t access the bird. Undeterred, Scott posted on social media to see if anyone knew who owned the property. Remarkably, someone did – and had both a name and phone number. She texted the owner, who responded right away with the combination to the lock and permission for PWC to enter the property.
The next obstacle was that the bird was hanging over twenty feet from the ground, and Zenglein’s ladder was only fifteen feet. Again, Scott sprang into action and contacted Cal Fire for assistance. Amazingly, they showed up, with equipment that allowed them to reach the bird and cut it down. Zenglein then transported the kestrel to the PWC clinic.
The intake exam revealed the adult female kestrel’s outer primary wing feathers to be unbroken but tightly wrapped in blue string. The bird was otherwise healthy. Several of the feathers were bent, though, and in danger of breaking. Our veterinarian applied “a small amount of 5-minute epoxy . . . to the damaged feathers at the site where they were bending, to reinforce the feather shaft and prevent breakage,” and removed the string. “The bird was given anti-inflammatory medication to treat pain and any strain/sprain type of injury sustained. When test flown the next day, her flight was already much improved.”
After several days of observation in a small outdoor aviary, the kestrel “was deemed ready for release” – a happy task that fell to Rescue/Transport team member Eric Zebe, who reports that all “went perfectly.”
It could have ended so differently. Some human had caused the entanglement with one carelessly discarded bit of string. But other humans came to the rescue. Saving this kestrel depended on the decency, willingness to help, initiative, and expertise of multiple folks in a “relay” through our village.
Pam Hartmann
