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Chicago Tonight - Segment on Phoenix the Red-tailed Hawk injured in the Sugar Grove plane crash

Rising from the Ashes

In the midst of Saturday night's Sugar Grove plane crash that regretfully claimed the lives of two Florida men, stood the remnants of a large hawk. Phoenix, as she is now known, is believed to be a female Red-tailed Hawk that miraculously survived the fireball which engulfed her while she was sleeping in a tree near the crash site.

Burned beyond positive species identification, Phoenix was recovered by Kane County Animal Control and was promptly transferred to Flint Creek Wildlife for emergency care. Since that time four nights ago, she has been receiving around-the-clock care for her injuries.


She has demonstrated an inspiring spirit and resilience. Although her recovery time will be long, Phoenix stands a good chance of making a full recovery and being released back to the wild to soar once again.

Please keep her in your thoughts and visit our website at http://www.flintcreekwildlife.org/ if you are able to contribute to help offset the costs of her care.

Our sincerest appreciation to Kane County Animal Control and the sheriff's deputy who first spotted Phoenix standing in the snow near the plane wreckage.

Dawn

Ferruginous Hawk Recovered from Plow of Freight Train

The cover of today's Chicago Sun-Times featured a story on a Ferruginous Hawk that Flint Creek Wildlife recovered from the plow of a Canadian Pacific freight train in August. Journey, as the hawk is now known, demonstrated amazing will to live through the 1,000+ mile journey as it was wedged in a contorted position throughout his ordeal.

Thanks to the workers at the Canadian Pacific for noticing the bird's tail hanging down from the front of the train as it arrived at the Franklin Park rail yard long after dark. After realizing that the bird was still alive, the workers located Flint Creek Wildlife and called us after 11:00 pm. We arrived at the rail yard just after midnight and extricated the bird from the train's plow.

Thanks to Mitch Dudek, Tom Cruze and the Chicago Sun-Times staff for their amazing coverage of this brave bird!

Dawn Keller

Illinois Storm Warning

Last night brought signficant heavy, wet snow to northern Illinois. If you live in that area, please be aware that any nests might have been compromised. If you know of an active nest in your yard or area, please check to see if the nest was destroyed in last night's storm and, if so, check for any babies in distress. Particularly susceptible in Illinois right now are Grey Squirrels, Fox Squirrels and Great Horned Owls.

If you find a hypothermic (low body temperature) baby, immediately bring it inside and place it in warm bedding. Do not initially give the baby any supplemental head like a hot water bottle or heating pad as heating the baby too quickly could result in death. Do not feed or give water to the baby. Call a licensed rehabilitator in your area for further instructions. A full list of Illinois rehabilitators is on our website under the links section. (www.flintcreekwildlife.org). You may reach us at 847/842-8000.

Adults are also getting in to trouble today. Most susceptible will be migrants who aren't normally accustomed to dealing with this type of weather.

Thank you for helping us Save Lives,

Dawn

Saving the Birds

Felicia Dechter's Skyline News column this week featured a great article on Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation's rescue and recovery efforts. "Saving the birds" also talks about migration, reducing window collisions, how to volunteer for Flint Creek Wildlife and how to help if you find an injured bird.

Speaking of Felicia, her mom was just moved into hospice. Please keep them in your thoughts.

Dawn

"I Heard Your Message, But...."

"....I fed it anyway. I didn't understand why I shouldn't feed it. Why shouldn't I feed it anyway?"

So much for being able to put what used to be a perfectly healthy baby Great Horned Owl back in its nest. Thanks to the straw full of water that its rescuer put in its mouth, the owlet is now fighting for its life.



Case: 09-100
Species: Great Horned Owl
Diagnosis: aspiration pneumonia

The instructions that we and other wildlife rehabilitation centers provide are designed to keep rescuers from doing unintended harm....please follow them.