Red-tailed Hawk #15-0021 update

Red-tailed Hawk #15-0021 continues to surprise the staff with her progress and improvements. The bird is perching well and eating whole food, and the veterinary team has also noted that the bird’s harsh lung sounds have slowly improved. While the hawk still occasionally breathes hard during treatments, the staff have been able to wean her off of supplemental oxygen while being handled. The bird continues to receive oxygen therapy in the Center’s critical care chamber, but Dr. Meghan and Dr. Helen are weaning the bird from the additional oxygen, and hope to move the bird into a regular crate in the holding room next week.

Blood was drawn from the hawk on February 18; results revealed that the hawk no longer has a high white blood cell count, though the diagnostic team did find plasmodium, a blood parasite. The hawk began a five-day course of antibiotics to treat the parasite. The staff hope that this bird will continue to improve and recover!