10/31/2026
***Patient of the Week***
In the last couple of weeks, we have received three red-tailed hawks with severe feather damage from flying too close to methane flares. Hawks and other raptors may fly over or near landfills that use burners to reduce the amount of methane and other dangerous gases released into the atmosphere. These flares aren’t visible and are extremely hot, causing singed feathers at best and burns or death at worst. One of these patients also had some trauma to the oral cavity, but with medications and time, is showing no trouble eating.
Feather condition is one of many important factors when assessing bird patients. They are crucial for thermoregulation and mobility. Unfortunately, these three hawks are stuck with us until they go through a complete molt to regrow the damaged feathers. The damage is most obvious on the flight feathers of their wings, but the head and body feathers are also affected with singed and frayed ends. This will not allow the barbs and barbules to “zip up” during normal preening, preventing the feathers from retaining heat, creating a waterproof exterior, or having the proper aerodynamics.
Feather imping, a process for temporary feather repair, will not work in these cases. Imping requires healthy feather shafts to attach a donor feather to and these hawks have too much damage. All we can do is trim spiky ends to keep them from catching on anything and keep these hawks in appropriate housing while we wait.
Thankfully, these hawks have enough mobility and the right disposition (feisty) to be housed in outdoor spaces where they have less interaction with humans and more exposure to natural conditions. As far as prevention, some landfills will remove popular perching options near the facilities or install visible cages around the flare stacks. Sadly, there are just too many dangers that wild birds cannot learn to identify. We hope these red-tailed hawks manage to avoid future obstacles when they take to the skies again next year.
