West Seattle wildlife: Baby hawk rescued in North Delridge

| Delridge | West Seattle news | Wildlife

Behind the mesh is a baby hawk just rescued tonight near Dragonfly Pavilion in North Delridge (in the Longfellow Creek-side park area south of Allstar Fitness). Galena White says her neighbor found the baby, who was unable to fly; they tried to find expert help to rescue it, worried it would be easy prey for a predator if let alone, but no one was able to respond. Sarvey Wildlife Rescue advised them to try to catch it. And they did. Galena says her neighbor has dubbed the hawk “Mordechai“; the bird is en route to Five Corners Animal Hospital, and Sarvey will retrieve it from there.

Aman July 10, 2011 (9:54 pm)

Very Nice, “Special-Catch.” May your kindnesss & efforts come back to all invoved 1,000 times.

HunterG July 10, 2011 (10:29 pm)

I saw this same bird earlier today on the fishbone bridge and had no idea what to do and got totally freaked out by it’s momma dive-bombing me three times with the last time having her snatch some hair from my scalp. (OUCH, by the way).

TR – just a suggestion for you… could you add some numbers for wildlife rescue at the top of the WS wildlife page? Dept. of fish and wildlife in Seattle would be helpful or numbers for folks to call if they run into this on the weekend?

WSB July 10, 2011 (10:46 pm)

We don’t actually have a wildlife page – the links go to dynamically generated archives for whatever stories are tagged with, in this case, wildlife, no page base to put that kind of info on. I do NEED a wildlife page, though, maybe this would be the impetus to create one! I suggested Sarvey to Galena when she originally e-mailed to say they’d found this hawk and who should they call … and I don’t think I would have known about Sarvey except for a recent discussion in the forums about another bird rescue. Anyway, good idea, we’ll figure something out … TR

Trileigh July 11, 2011 (7:39 am)

How wonderful that this young hawk was rescued in time! Please keep us informed, if possible, about his progress at Sarvey?

Visitor July 11, 2011 (7:53 am)

Paws/Howl in Lynwood has much better facilities and staff to care for wildlife in need.

WSB July 11, 2011 (8:35 am)

Visitor – Thank you, all information welcome as this is the sort of thing most people would never need to know till something urgent, but if we can put together a bit of a resource list – like the kind WSB’er who put together a list of emergency pet-care facilities, now linked on our lost/found pets page – that might help the next person looking for that kind of information. I have a contact at PAWS so I’ll ask him what their specialties are and when it’s appropriate to call them.

strange_owl July 11, 2011 (8:37 am)

Fledging birds do not need to be rescued! No, they can’t fly very well yet, and it is a vulnerable time in their lives, but as HunterG found out the parents are still around caring for the fledglings. A nest is a dangerous place too (attracts predators, parasites), which is why birds leave them before they look “ready” to human eyes. The birds will do better under the continued care of their parents.

strange_owl July 11, 2011 (8:45 am)

More info on what to do with baby birds here: http://audubonportland.org/backyardwildlife/brochures/babybirds

Maybe WSB might want to republish these guidelines?

To be clear, I’m not disparaging Galena or her neighbor, I know their hearts were in the right place.

amalia July 11, 2011 (11:00 am)

I know people mean well, but fledglings fall to the ground all the time and the parents still care for them. They are best left alone!!! They can be lifted to a tree branch if they are in a vulnerable place, but they don’t need to be “rescued.” Especially in cases where the adults are obviously defending in the area and defending them. PAWS and other rehab centers should emphasize this, if they don’t already.
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I know the “rescuers” meant well.

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