Monthly Archives: August 2018

Scarlet Tanager

Female Scarlet Tanager was brought to us this weekend after it collided with the rescuer’s car and got stuck in their grill! Miraculously, this bird arrived in relatively decent shape, suffering some severe bruising to one side of the head, an air sac injury and mild dehydration. This patient is eating on her own, the bruising on the head has resolved with medication and rest, and we watching to see how her air sac injury heals. This species mostly eats insects during warmer months when it is in Virginia but as these birds begin to migrate to South America for the winter they will increasingly eat wild fruits as well.

Red-shouldered Hawk

Beautiful juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk was brought to us from Craig county after being found on the ground unable to fly. This patient’s left wing was incredibly bruised and swollen upon admission and its condition is guarded. This species tends to use the same nesting territory every year—there is one instance of one individual returning to the same nesting area for 16 years in a row! The oldest known individual of this species was almost 26 years old. There has been some observed cooperation with crows—although these two species tend to antagonize each other, flocks of crows and a pair of these hawks may work together to drive a greater threat, like a Great Horned Owl, away from the area! swvawildlifecenter.org #swvawildlifecenter #redshoulderedhawk

 

Thank you!

Over 45 people showed up last night to the release of these two Eastern Screech-Owls! MIB Tree Service had found the young owlets after they had been trapped for several days as the tree the nest was in had fallen during a storm and the nest’s hole was face down in the mud! MIB brought them to Brown Hound Tree Service, who brought them to us the next morning right after we opened. We are thankful for companies like them that “give a hoot” about wildlife and collaboratively work together to do a good thing. They are wildlife heroes in the truest sense. Thanks to Brown Hound for putting this amazing release event together! swvawildlifecenter.org #swvawildlifecenter #easternscreechowl #owls #teamwork #wildlifeheroes

 

Update

An update on how you can help us with the current ongoing situation—if you are able to and would like to support us, please join us on September 4th at 7pm at the Public Planning Commission for a hearing on the approval of the Raptor Rehabilitation Building. If the Raptor Rehabilitation Building is approved, we will then need supporters again on Sept 25th at 7pm as we go before the Board of Supervisors in order to obtain the proper permit to build this building. Your attendance will show the county that you support the center and our mission to rehabilitate and release healthy wildlife. Showing the county that the community of Roanoke and beyond values the work we do will help them understand the importance of this state-of-the-art building that will help our patients have a quicker turnaround time. This structure will be used for strength conditioning eagles, hawks, owls, ravens, and other large birds prior to release back into the wild. We currently have to send raptors two hours away to another center, a process which is stressful on the bird and can delay their recovery time significantly. It is important that we have as many people, if not more, that attend these meetings, as the complainants are still challenging us every step of the way. Location for both hearings will be at the Roanoke County Administration Building (behind 419 West) at 5204 Bernard Drive, Roanoke, VA. For more info on the raptor structure, please click on Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center in the following link: https://www.roanokecountyva.gov/index.aspx?NID=278 Thank you for your support in this struggle thus far and we hope you’ll be able to join us. If you can’t attend, you can still email your thoughts about the raptor recovery building to planning@roanokecountyva.gov

 

Hawk

I wish to thank Rudi Woykowski and the Blacksburg Police Department for helping rescue this hawk. The police stopped traffic on 460 while Rudi gathered the hawk from the median. Rudi took the hawk to VMCVM. Then the vet school transferred the patient and transporter Tammy Palmatier brought it to the center. The hawk is in guarded condition but resting comfortably. Swvawildlifecenter.org #swvawildlifecenter #redtailedhawk #wildlifeheroes #teamwork — with Rudi Woykowski.