Young hawk takes flight after rehab

A red-tailed hawk with a troublesome past soared into the horizon Sunday with an attentive audience of bird lovers to see her to freedom.

A crowd of approximately 25 people gathered at Dayton State Park to watch the hawk's release after nearly 5 months in captivity at Carson City's Wild Animal Infirmary for Nevada.

Most people stood staring at the hawk's graceful flapping, shading their eyes with mouths agape, while the rest managed to snap a few photos before she flew too far away for a decent close-up.

The hawk lifted off volunteer Nancee Goldwater's outstretched leather glove and floated in a circle above it's adoring fans before she caught an air stream and effortlessly cruised up, up and away for good.

"It was really amazing to watch," said Carson City resident Ralph McEwen afterward, squinting into the sky as if he could still see the hawk's powerful wings pumping.

Dan Harrington, 15, visiting Dayton from Wisconsin, said he thought the bird was beautiful, but speckled feathers and graceful movements aren't the only cool things about birds of prey.

"I like watching them tear apart their food," he said, grinning and making a menacing claw with his flexed fingers.

Sunday's freed hawk was the latest in a steady stream of predatory birds to go through the infirmary's program of rehabilitation and re-acclimation to the wild.

It was found at the Carson Valley Golf Course in March, trying to survive while dodging balls and carts.

"We let them go when they feel safe in the wild and can fly well," Goldwater said. "We make sure they're able to hunt; swoop, grasp and bite."

The Wild Animal Infirmary for Nevada is a nonprofit organization created in 1978 to care for ill, injured and orphaned wildlife. It admits hundreds of animals every year from the public, state and national parks, law enforcement agencies and all animal control agencies, and it boasts a high recuperation and release rate.

Goldwater said many hawks are found on freeways, sometimes injured when they run into cars while trying to hunt.

That's why scratched eyes are common for hawks, she said, and if the scratching is too severe, the animal can't hunt on it's own.

Though the organization has only had to save six hawks this year. Spotted owls are coming in droves, with 47 rescued so far.

"Barn owls are everywhere this year," Goldwater said, "and we only see the ones that are in danger."

She said owls can be very effective mouse control for barn owners, but if an owl is injured or found in a dangerous place, call WAIF at (775) 849-0345 before trying to handle it.

For more information about the organization's rescue efforts, visit the Wild Animal Infirmary for Nevada's Web site at www.waifnv.org.

Contact Robyn Moormeister at rmoormeister@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1215.

Hawk Facts

-- Red-tailed hawks are protected under the International Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

-- The eyesight of a hawk is eight times more powerful than a human's.

-- Eighty-five to 90 percent of their diet is composed of small rodents.

-- Red-tailed hawks have a body length of 22 inches with a wing span of approximately 56 inches.

-- They are found throughout North America from central Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama.

-- The red-tailed hawk is the most common member of the buzzard hawk family.

-- They weigh between two and four pounds, and the female may be up to 1Ú3 larger in size than the male.

- Source: Nevada Department of Wildlife