An Injured Hawk Got a Sheriff’s Ride to the County Fair. The Right People Were Waiting.

The young red-tailed hawk was found beside a Greene County road, perched low and wobbling as he tried to steady himself. A healthy hawk does not usually remain near traffic while humans move closer. It flies away, objects loudly or does both.

This bird stayed, which was the first sign that something was badly wrong.

The hawk was still young, a second-year male with most of his life potentially ahead of him, but he needed help immediately. Dave Loverde of Friends of the Feathered and Furry Wildlife Center became part of the rescue and began working out where the injured bird could be safely examined.

That question is more complicated than finding someone who loves animals. Hawks are powerful birds with talons, sharp beaks and federal protections. Caring for one requires specialized experience, proper facilities and permits that not every wildlife rehabilitator holds.

Fortunately, Loverde knew someone who could begin the intake.

Tonya Frickey, founder and president of Catskill Mountain Wildlife Rehabilitation, was already working at the Greene County Youth Fair in Cairo. Her organization could help receive and stabilize the hawk, although it did not currently hold the additional permits needed to provide his complete raptor rehabilitation.

There was also the small matter of getting an injured hawk from the roadside to the fairgrounds.

The Greene County Sheriff’s Office stepped in and transported him.

The injured hawk during his intake examination at the Greene County Youth Fair. Photo by Tonya Frickey, courtesy Catskill Mountain Wildlife Rehabilitation.

That is how a young red-tailed hawk, already having a truly lousy day, ended up receiving a sheriff’s ride to the county fair. From his perspective, several enormous mammals had placed him in a vehicle and were now taking him toward livestock barns, food stands and more humans. He had no way of knowing this was about as lucky as his bad situation could get.

When the hawk arrived, another person he needed was already at the fair.

Xendara Haas of Whispering Willow Wild Care joined the intake examination. Whispering Willow works with birds of prey, so Haas had the specialized experience needed to assess a frightened hawk whose injury was not immediately obvious.

The intake team checked the young hawk carefully for injuries. Photo by Tonya Frickey, courtesy Catskill Mountain Wildlife Rehabilitation.

The examination brought the first piece of genuinely good news: no broken bones were found. His wobbling and reluctance to fly instead appeared consistent with a concussion.

Later, Loverde collected the hawk and took responsibility for his continuing evaluation and treatment. The rescue had moved from a roadside discovery to a sheriff’s vehicle, then through a county fair and into specialized care, with each person handling the part they were trained and permitted to do.

There was no dramatic speech and no single person sweeping in to save everything. There was simply a chain of people who recognized the next right thing and agreed to do it.

For a while, the hawk refused to eat.

That can be one of the hardest parts of caring for injured wildlife. An animal cannot explain where it hurts, what happened or whether the room has stopped spinning. The rehabilitators have to study posture, balance, alertness, appetite and dozens of other small signs that most of us would never know how to read.

Then the hawk began feeding.

By July 30, Catskill Mountain Wildlife Rehabilitation had the update everyone involved had been hoping to hear. The bird was doing well, had moved into an outdoor enclosure and could be released within a week or two if his recovery continued.

For wildlife rehabilitators, that is the whole point.

They do not rescue wild animals so the animals will love them, remember them or become permanent residents. They work toward the day a patient becomes strong enough to reject every offer of human assistance and leave.

A wildlife rehabilitator assists with the hawk’s intake examination. Photo by Tonya Frickey, courtesy Catskill Mountain Wildlife Rehabilitation.

This hawk’s recovery also revealed the quiet rescue network operating throughout the Hudson Valley. Catskill Mountain Wildlife Rehabilitation currently works with ten rehabilitators, but no single person or organization can legally and safely treat every species. One rehabilitator may have experience with small mammals, another with deer and another with raptors.

When the system works, animals move between people according to what they need. In this rescue, one call led to another. Transportation was arranged. The hawk was examined at the fair, then transferred to Loverde for treatment. None of the people involved could do every part alone, but together they kept the bird from falling through the gaps.

In Greene County, that network included Dave Loverde and Friends of the Feathered and Furry Wildlife Center, Tonya Frickey and Catskill Mountain Wildlife Rehabilitation, Xendara Haas and Whispering Willow Wild Care, and the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.

Their names deserve to appear together because this was not a story about one heroic person. It was a story about several people respecting one another’s knowledge and refusing to let an injured animal fall through the space between their responsibilities.

The deputies could provide transportation. Frickey could organize the intake. Haas could examine a bird of prey. Loverde could take over the specialized treatment and rehabilitation.

Each person knew their part.

More importantly, each person showed up for it.

What to do when you find injured wildlife

The desire to help an injured animal is a good instinct, but food and water can sometimes make its condition worse. Wildlife rehabilitators recommend contacting a licensed professional before attempting to handle, feed or transport an animal.

When a rehabilitator advises it, a small animal may be placed in a ventilated box, covered and kept somewhere quiet, away from children and pets. Do not offer food or water unless a professional specifically tells you to do so.

And remember that the animal has no idea you are trying to be kind. From its perspective, it was already having a terrible day, and now a giant is approaching with a laundry basket.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation maintains a searchable list of licensed wildlife rehabilitators. DEC says those rehabilitators volunteer their time and receive no state funding for animal caging, veterinary care, medicine or food, even though the public depends on them whenever injured wildlife needs somewhere to go.

The young red-tailed hawk still has one journey ahead of him, but the next ride should be entirely under his own power.

With luck, an enclosure door will open and he will decide he has had quite enough of humans. He will not pose for a farewell photograph or circle back to thank anyone. He may not hesitate at all.

He will not know the names of Dave Loverde, Tonya Frickey or Xendara Haas. He will not understand why the sheriff’s deputies stopped, why several wildlife groups rearranged their day or how many people quietly worked together to give him another chance.

That is all right.

They will know.

And now, so will we.

Photos by Tonya Frickey, courtesy Catskill Mountain Wildlife Rehabilitation.