Injured Baby Hawk Re-Nested

An injured baby Red-Shouldered Hawk, hurt in a fall out of a high nest in Berea, was returned to its “treehouse” and the care of its natural mom with the aid of a bucket lift on Friday. A group of maintenance workers found the injured baby below a big tree last week. The bird was very weak and flies had laid eggs in its feathers.
Staffers from the Kenneth A. Scott Wildlife Education & Rehabilitation Program cleaned the feathers up, rehydrated and fed it a few times, quickly enabling the young hawk to regain its strength. The best option for this baby was to return to the wild to continue growing up in the wild under its parents care.

For Lake Erie Nature & Science Center Wildlife Director, Dave Wolf, that meant donning a hard hat, joining one of the rescuers in a bucket lift and after some maneuvering, getting just close enough to place the bird safely and gently back into the nest. You can watch a short video clip of the final hand-off below.
One of our wildlife volunteers has since been back to Berea to check and she observed both mom and dad at the nest! That said, Wildlife Rehab does not offer guarantees, but we do our best to give injured wildlife a chance at survival back in the wild. We're glad this situation appears to be working out beautifully!