An immature Red Tailed Hawk was admitted to Wings of Wonder recently. She was hatched earlier this year and was now newly out on her own, having to hunt and scavenge for her food. Because of her hunting inexperience and lack of perfected skills, this poor youngster was not finding enough food to sustain herself. She was found along a Lake Michigan beach and the finders at first thought she had a broken bone in her wing.
A total exam at Wings of Wonder revealed that this bird was just too thin and weak to fly. She had lost almost half of her normal body weight. After some time recovering in the "WOW" hospital, and having access to fresh food daily, the youngster began to put on much needed weight. She was soon moved to an outdoor flight pen, large enough for her to open her wings and move around a bit, but not big enough to do unlimited flying. We wanted her to gain her strength slowly and not use precious energy flying. She continued to recover and gain weight and was then moved to our large 100 foot aviary. She is getting stronger daily and eating everything in sight, even those curious chipmunks who happen to make a fatal decision to burrow into her flight pen. We are hoping to release her yet this fall so stay tuned for an e-blast inviting you all to this fun event. (here she is enjoying breakfast) 
(an update on our legal battles with the Leelanau County Road Commissioners....the law suit continues so please continue your letters to the editors, your phone calls to the road commissioners and county commissioners and your much appreciated financial pledges....thank you so very much!)
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