Red-tailed Hawk Hit by Semi Arrives From Georgia

A Red-tailed Hawk took an unexpected journey, hitching a ride on a semi-truck all the way from Atlanta, Georgia! The adventure began when the hawk was struck by the truck’s side view mirror and became tangled. Fortunately, the driver managed to bring the bird into the passenger seat for most of the trip. Despite reaching out to local organizations for help that evening, no assistance was available. Determined to keep the hawk safe, the driver continued his route the next morning with the bird securely contained in a tote in the passenger seat.

The Georgia Wildlife Network reached out to him for a follow-up, but he had already moved on from the area. Instead, they coordinated with him to find another facility along his route. His journey would take him through St. Louis later that afternoon, making the World Bird Sanctuary an ideal stop for the bird’s care.

The injured Red-tailed Hawk, now identified as patient #25-487, had sustained a fracture in its right wing during the collision. The impact was severe enough to force the bone through the skin, leaving it exposed. When bone is exposed to the elements, it can quickly deteriorate, and such open fractures often have a much poorer prognosis than closed ones.

But thanks to the driver’s quick actions in seeking help, the bone remained viable upon 487’s arrival at WBS. The next day, 487 underwent surgery to repair his humerus. So far, the injury is now healing well and the wing maintains good extension. We remain optimistic about his chances for release. With a journey of nearly 600 miles, 25-487 sets the record for the farthest away patient to ever be admitted to our Kathryn G. Favre Foundation Raptor Hospital!

If you would like to follow the medical journey of our patients, you can visit our website! Under the hospital section of “About Us” you can read through each patient’s care record and see their daily treatments, x-rays, blood work, and more. Warning, some patient records will contain photos of wounds that may be graphic in nature.