Pirate - Red-Tail Hawk
This beautiful guy came to us in 2003 after being hit by a car. He suffered a concussion and lost the sight in one eye. We were afraid that with only half his peripheral vision that he would starve if released. Red-tails are too common to have breeding programs so we tried Pirate as an educational bird, but he had one major problem – he got car sick! So, using food on a string, we would drag it around him, teaching him to track by moving his head. He soon learned to continuously move his head to increase his peripheral range and successfully spotted and killed live mice, no matter where we put them in his enclosure. We released him in a nearby canyon and 4 weeks later, saw that, not only was he doing well, but that he had found a mate. Way to go Pirate!
