A resident swoops in to rescue an ailing hawk

DEAR JOAN: On Sept. 21, about 11:30 a.m., I stepped outside to wash my dog’s water bowl and I saw what appeared to be a turkey sitting on my compost bin underneath thick vines.

My jaw dropped when I stepped closer and saw that it was a beautiful hawk. I called my sister over to witness this peculiar circumstance, and we realized that something had to be wrong with it.

As I approached, it hopped away toward the street, onto a car and then into a very thick mass of vines. I thought it must be hurt to have hidden itself instead of flying away, so I threw on some purple rubber dish gloves and I stood on a chair to see where it was among the woven branches. I was pretty close to giving up until I heard some movement.

After one final shake of the vines, the hawk shot out and down to the ground. I could see it had a mess of feathers in one of its claws, which turned out to be a small dead bird.

I tried to get the hawk to hop onto my gloved forearm so I could get it some help, but he responded with a threatening claw. So I went back inside while he went to work on the little bird. I came back with a sweater to wrap him in. I had to chase him around for a while, but I finally caught him and put him inside a darkened bathroom while my sister called WildCare in San Rafael to find out what to do.

WildCare asked us to bring in the hawk. We happened to have a big box for him and as it was my sister’s day off, she made the trip with him.

They took wonderful care of him and allowed us to be involved all the way through. They gave us a patient number and a phone number so we could call and track his progress. They also gave us the option of being involved in the release, which we accepted.

We learned that the bird is a Cooper’s hawk, and that these hawks hunt mostly small birds, which requires them to fly very fast through branches and often results in fractures throughout their bodies.

Over the past couple of months, I have called and received updates on his condition. He was suffering from a fractured wing, which they set and bandaged. When the break was healed, they did physical therapy with him, then transferred him to another wildlife refuge that is equipped with a large aviary so he could practice flying.

Last week, we received a call saying that the hawk was ready to be released. On Thanksgiving Day, we picked him up and took him to Point Pinole East Bay Regional Park to return him to the skies.

For us this has been a beautiful reminder of the wildlife we have here in our own backyards, literally, and to appreciate how important it is to preserve this beauty and support organizations such as WildCare for providing these kinds of opportunities for us.

Danusia Lewakowski

San Pablo

DEAR DANUSIA: What a wonderful story, and thank you for recognizing this bird was in need and getting it help.

Cooper’s hawks do frequently injure themselves. The secret to their success is their speed, but it’s also what makes them so prone to injury.

Wildlife organizations, including WildCare, do a wonderful job in helping injured wild animals, but they do rely on us to find the animals and safely collect and deliver them.