The stories that come with every bird we admit are varied and often quite remarkable, giving us a window into what their lives are like. In the middle of July, a fledgling bald eagle had somehow managed to catch the eye of a coyote who thought maybe it was worth pursuing. The eagle ended up in the river managing to get away from the coyote but finding itself struggling to get out of the river. The eagle family had been watched and enjoyed by some people who lived nearby. Fortunately, these people had witnessed these activities with the coyote and saw the young eagle was in a bad situation. They managed to get the eagle out of the river – it was totally drenched, weak and the breathing was labored. They contacted Beth who came and took it to the center. One wing had some trauma, but no serious injuries were found, and the lead level was low. After a few days in a chamber to dry out and collect itself, it was put in the flight barn to continue practicing its flying skills and build more muscle. The second week of August, it was flying strong, and the wing was functioning normally. Arrangements were made to return it to near where the nest was and hope the parents would be there to continue with fledgling eagle lessons in survival. It made everyone’s heart sing to see the parent eagles were there and the youngster got to tell them its sad tale of woe or so we would like to think. Thank you, kind people, for helping this fledgling eagle get out of predicament, so its life could go on.

Although not a raptor, we sometimes admit other large birds to the facility. Late summer we received a call about a trumpeter swan in the Eureka area who could not fly and looked like she had a broken wing. It was still plenty mobile and proved challenging for MT FWP to catch. After a couple of weeks of spotting her and trying, they were successful and brought her to us. She did indeed have a broken wing, but it had already mended leaving us no way to fix it. She had a federal band on her leg, which is always interesting in that it can lead to information about her life story. Beth contacted Dale Becker who as part of his job worked with CSKT in 2001 doing a captive breeding program at the Montana Waterfowl Foundation (MWF) in Charlo raising chicks to release in the effort to reintroduce trumpeter swans to the Mission Valley. Dale dug through boxes and to everyone’s delight found her information. She was a female hatched in 2005. She stayed on Pablo Reservoir the following year before moving north to the Eureka area where she was spotted on several lakes. She moved back to the MWF for the winter months, leaving again in February heading north to same area she frequented the past summer. By late fall, she had returned to MWF with another bird. She continued to go north for the summers and return to MWF in late fall. In February of 2012 she was again spotted at MWF with another adult and a cygnet (juvenile swan). It is noted that she had lost the red collar and leg band from the program which were made to eventually come off but still had the federal band on her leg which she was wearing when she arrived at the center. Since now she would not survive if released, Beth contacted John Jarvis at MWF asking if they had room to give her a permanent safe home. They were as delighted as we were to hear her story and agreed she could come back to her original home. Late this fall she was returned and from reports we have received she is doing just fine. At 20+ years old, which is amazing, we think this was truly a full circle for this bird. Thank you, Dale Becker, CSKT and MWF for the successful program to reintroduce the trumpeter swans in Montana. Thanks also to MT FWP for your persistence in helping her.

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To learn more about Montana Waterfowl Foundation and the amazing place that it is go to: https://mtwaterfowl.org/

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Near the end of July, we were admitting an eagle a day. It was a tad crazy at the center! Every time Beth answered the phone it seemed to involve another eagle. Some were poisoned, some were injured and some we don’t know what took them down, but the very hot temperatures were not helping them pull out of whatever did take them down. One was a bald eagle that was reported laying dead on the shore of Wild Horse Island. When a kayaker checked on it, it was barely alive, but alive. The kayaker didn’t have a way to bring it back, so he had to leave it and brainstorming began to figure out how to possibly get it back across the lake. It took many calls to different agencies for possible solutions. As the plan came together the kayaker went back to make sure it was still alive, so rescue efforts weren’t a waste of time – it was still alive and a CSKT warden authorized to take their boat out with a biologist went to retrieve it. When they arrived the warden knew what to do and they let us know they would bring it to us. They indicated they weren’t sure it would survive until it arrived to us but would try to get it to us in time. Indeed, it was very close to the end of its life journey when it got to us – it was limp and lifeless, but one eye would try and open just a little – it was a fighter. The temperatures had been and were very hot the day it arrived. It was severely dehydrated. The weight was ok, but the crop was bony, indicating it had been a while since it had eaten a meal. No obvious injuries were found, and the lead was low. We could only speculate what took place putting it on the ground – a fight, worn out from raising young, poor fishing, poison in some food, heat stroke – it was anybody’s guess. We put it in a quiet dark space and started hydrating it as well as putting ointment in the eyes. In a couple days, it was trying to hold its head up but couldn't stand. We continued to hydrate and were slowly introducing food a small amount at a time. The third day it was using its wings to support itself to stand and to our surprise on the fourth day we found it standing in the water bowl with a look of “what the heck happened to me and where the heck am I?!?” It was on the mend – it was eager to eat, standing got stronger, the eyes were improving, all indicators it was ready for more space, so it went to the 40’ chamber to regain its strength. A solid week of flying proved it was flying well and not very happy being cooped up – it wanted to go. We obliged it by taking it back to near Wild Horse Island where it had come from. The release flight was strong before landing in a tree for a bit then circling up into sky and away. Thank you to the kayaker and Beth for not giving up trying to get this eagle a ride and to CSKT wardens and biologist for taking the time and resources to rescue it. Gotta appreciate that will to live! It was worth everyone’s effort to see it fly off!

This baby season we admitted several different species of raptor babies for various reasons. One of them was a Northern Pygmy Owl from the Lakeside area. A landscaper rescued it when it was obvious the parents were not tending to it, the nest was not spotted to return it to, and it was not able to fly. It looked so tiny when Beth picked it up – amazing someone saw it and thankfully helped it. Being a good eater right from the start, it progressed quickly with its growing and flying skills. The first week of July, the down was gone, it passed the tests to get released and it was ready to go back to where it came from. Leyna did the honors of returning it – it made a quick exit out of the crate and was off living life again in the blink of the eye.

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Thank you observant landscaper for spotting it, Beth for picking it up and Leyna making its journey complete back home.

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We get a variety of species throughout the year – when we get an uncommon one it is special for us to get to see it and we always learn something about their uniqueness. The first part of March CSKT FWP brought us a barn owl that had gotten hooked on a barb wire fence. The rancher managed to get her out of the barb wire without a lot of damage to the wing. Some skin was torn, but no bones were broken or exposed. Kudos rancher on your skillful rescue from the fence! It looked different from our education barn owl Igor. This one had a speckled chest and weighed over a pound – by contrast Igor has a white chest and weighs less than a pound. These 2 characteristics indicate that this admit was a female. The wounds were treated and a quiet spot with a box (barn owls enjoy being in a box) became its recovery space. It took a couple days to adjust to recovery, but when it did, food was hard to keep on hand. It soon proved it could fly well, the wing recovered without any infection, and it was ready to go home. Arrangements were made with CSKT FWP to return it to the ranch it came from. She had a strong release flight and appeared to know where she was going. A single barn owl can consume 11,000 mice over its approximate 10 year lifespan so the rancher will be glad to have her back. Being mating season, we hope there was a mate waiting for her return. The quick actions or the rancher and CSKT FWP for transporting to and from us helped make it a smooth, quick recovery. It can take a community to get things done. This is only the 3rd barn owl we have ever admitted to the center; we are thrilled it was a quick recovery and got to go home.

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You can see the video of her release here

The first part of January, a forest service worker brought us a Northern Saw- whet owl who had been hit by a vehicle. It appeared to have a head trauma, but nothing appeared broken. It was given a quiet space and time to mend. It had come from an area that was part of the Owl Research Institute’s Northern Saw Whet study area, so we contacted ORI to see if they would be interested in banding it when it was ready to be released. They said they would be happy to - more information is always a positive. At the end of January, Denver Holt and Jeanna Clifford stopped by the center to do the banding. Denver took measurements and weighed the owl before banding the leg. It is an interesting process and always fun to hear what the Owl Research Institute has been up to. Later that day, the forest service worker who had brought us the owl picked it up to return it to the area it had come from. The little owl was dubbed “Woodsey” after the Forest Service owl. It was a rewarding full circle for this owl. Thank you Forest Service worker for helping this owl and Denver & Jeanna for taking time to include it in your research.
 

Check out the work ORI does at https://www.owlresearchinstitute.org/