Photo (c) Albemarle Corporation
Residents first noticed a red-tailed hawk perching on their balconies in October of 2010. The hawk would sit for up to 30 minutes, fixated on a bird feeder below. Because it had no apparent fear of people, residents believed it to be a juvenile. AMV resident and wildlife team co-chair Lydia Page commented that “This creature has not been altogether popular, but to many of us it is magnificent and admirable.” A photograph of the hawk was featured in the 2011 AMV Wildlife Habitat Calendar.
December 1, 2010 was an exceptionally windy day with reported gusts of wind up to 41 mph. Members of the maintenance staff found the hawk lying on the ground, unable to fly and quickly called Gaithersburg Animal Control; at their insistence, Animal Control staff arrived within an hour to secure the bird. That same day, Animal Control staff took the hawk to Second Chance Wildlife Center, also in Gaithersburg. According to Kathleen Handley, the Second Chance staff member who cared for the hawk, this was not the first patient brought in from AMV. “People from Asbury will bring songbirds and baby mice and rabbits” to the wildlife center for rehabilitation, she said.
Ms. Page called Second Chance weekly to check on the progress of the hawk, which was later named “Page Red-tailed” by the rehabilitators. The hawk was confirmed to be a juvenile, and determined to be female. Initially it was believed that the hawk hit the building as a result of the high winds and broke a wing, but X-ray test results were normal and they determined she had no eye injuries. The results of blood tests, including a test for West Nile virus, were also normal. Ms. Handley suspects the hawk did, indeed, suffer some kind of impact trauma, likely while diving for something.
Initially the young hawk would not eat and Ms. Handley had to force feed for a few days. Her behavior also changed; Ms. Page was told that the hawk was too aggressive to be kept in captivity for educational purposes, and would have to be euthanized if she didn’t recover enough to be released back into the wild. Fortunately, “Page Red-tailed” began eating on her own, and her behavior returned to normal. Ms. Handley released her at the corner of Asbury’s property in January and states “I have seen a Red-tailed soaring high. I hope it is she.”
