Released Bird Profile

I received a call from the rescue coordinator asking that I head over to the old Centlivre Apartments, which are undergoing extensive renovations, to assist Bob with rescuing some Peregrine Falcon babies.  When I arrived, Bob had already assessed the situation and was being hooked up to a safety harness for his ride to the top of the building in a lift truck.  Once there, they removed a board that had been temporarily covering the opening at the end of the rafters.  At that point one of the babies got loose and flew to the ground and was holding on to a chain link fence.  I wasn’t quick enough, however, and it slipped right through the fencing!  Thankfully one of the construction crew quickly climbed the 6 foot fence and chased the little one down and then handed it to me over the fence.  The remaining 3 babies were boxed up with no problem and rode back down with Bob in the lift truck.  They were quickly identified as American Kestrels and not Peregrine Falcons.  All appeared to be in good health and were transported to one of our rehabbers.

She completed her assessment and found that all were in good health and uninjured.  There are 2 males and 2 females!  They are not quite ready yet to be placed at our facility so they will stay with the rehabber.  One of the first milestones that they must reach before heading to the main facility is that they must be able to “tear up” their own food.  Once that happens, they will be moved.  The second step will be to spend some time being conditioned for flight in a 40ft flight pen and the final step will be to see if they can catch and eat “live” prey.   Once all that happens, they will then be released in a suitable area, such as a park or nature preserve.

06/12/2017
He is eating and perching.

07/20/2017
This is a healthy immature orphaned American Kestrel.  It is currently in a big flight pen with 12 other orphaned kestrels!  It is flying well.  Later we will make sure it catches live prey before being released.