Long Road Back Home RTHA 2999
Red-tailed Hawk 2999 was covered in so much of a lightly colored viscous oil that her correct weight wouldn’t be known until the next day, after she could be washed.
Contrary to the impression left by some TV commercials, aquatic birds are not the only ones who may need to be washed in a rehabilitation clinic, and oil from tanker spills is far from the only substance that can contaminate feathers. Seabirds’ feathers do get coated in oil, but it is often due to natural seep from the ocean floor. Among others, songbirds are frequent victims of glue traps; gulls are found in improperly contained vegetable oil from restaurants; and raptors are sometimes rescued from sewage.
RTHA 2999 was brought to PWC from the Elk Hills Chevron Oil Field in Kern County, so speculation was that the substance may have been a light refined petroleum or possibly a diluent used in cleaning up a spill. (Per regulations, a sample was sent to the Oiled Wildlife Care Network and U.C. Davis for analysis.) In any case, she needed to be washed because any type of contaminant, including residue from detergent, compromises feather condition and interferes with a bird’s thermoregulation.
Washing and rinsing a bird is not a simple procedure. It calls for techniques and expertise achieved through decades of experience and shared knowledge. RTHA 2999 benefited from this. However, much of the work must be done by the bird herself after the wash, to re-waterproof by preening so that the feathers’ microscopic structures are exquisitely realigned and “zipped” to re-create a waterproof mesh. In this, the bird is aided by a waxy secretion from her uropygial (preen) gland.
Unfortunately, RTHA 2999 was not waterproofing. Washed and rinsed again and still later re-rinsed, she was also sprayed daily with water to encourage preening. Another challenge: she was not eating on her own and had to be hand-fed. To reduce her stress, she was moved to an outdoor aviary. A rare rain still left her soaked, but after a few days, at least she began eating – voraciously – without human assistance.
While her caregivers waited for her to become waterproof, a team was called in to exercise her on a “creance,” a 150-foot line, to maintain her flight condition for eventual release. This hawk might have been a challenge in other ways, but on the creance field, she was a thrill to behold. Red-tailed hawks typically fly low on creance, but RTHA 2999 defied expectations, soaring as high as the line allowed.
Finally, after many weeks in care, she was ready for release back to her territory in the wild on the Lokern Reserve, about two miles from the oilfield. The carrier was opened, and she flew first to a post, from which she apparently considered a destination, before aiming for the tallest (and only!) tree to be seen. There she stayed as two other red-tailed hawks appeared, circled, called, and landed in the tree. They didn’t seem aggressive toward her, giving observers hope that – instead of territoriality – this might have been a reunion.
