A Young Hawk Makes a Ham Friend

Pip Cordrey writes "Gabbie the Gavilán



About 6 months ago I rescued a baby Grey Hawk, which I found tangled in my antenna, She had a broken leg. We repaired it with a tiny spot of superglue and watched her carefully to be sure that it was healing well. The leg is now completely mended and there is no sign of our repair.




We made a large hospital cage especially for her, so that when she was old enough to fly, she would have enough room to practice.



Shortly after the leg was repaired we took her into the wild and from a mountain site launched her into the air. I am afraid it was a dismal failure; she nose-dived straight into the ground. She was just too young and not having a mother to teach her added to her problem. Months passed and I became very fond of her. I fed her with young quails that had not survived the early days of hatching, and when they were not available we used meat scraps from the kitchen. We setup a regular daily routine of feeding and attention for her. In spite of her vicious yellow claws she took her food daily from me without scratching me and allowed me to hold her over her closed wings. In this position I took her around the farm and introduced her to the other animals and locations.



I decided that we would have to take another approach to releasing her. When feeding her now I would leave the cage door open behind me. Under normal circumstances it would be kept closed to prevent monkeys and dogs from stealing her food.



After several days I was rewarded, Gabbie flew gracefully out of the cage into a tall Meerecure tree above her and from this elevated location she was able to see over the house and into our arboretum. During this whole time she was giving her very characteristic cries. We supposed that she would soon swoop away and never be seen again. Of course we hoped that she would appear from time to time. Much to my surprise and pleasure she at once returned to the ground not more than a few feet from me. I fed her as usual except this was in front of her cage and not in it. She grasped her food in her claws and returned to her perch in the Merecure tree. Now at that moment something wonderful happened. Suddenly I could hear Hawk cries coming from another direction. I looked up into our great mahogany tree and there I saw another Grey Hawk, and then another. They all took to the wing and it was as if I was being given a fly past. This was truly the most magnificent sight. The new Hawks, possibly the parents of Gabbie had a slightly different and perhaps more mature call. I have known several instances where the parents of captive birds have remained in the area and have provided food for the baby captive bird. Well the story continues. Gabbie calls in every morning for her meal. This morning she was content to let me hand feed and stroke her.



She seems content to remain with her human family at least for the time being.





Note 1: The great majority of hawks are more useful to humans than they are harmful, but there is still widespread prejudice against them. Occasionally they destroy poultry and smaller birds, but usually they eat small mammals, insects, and reptiles, yes very partial to a piece of snake.



Note 2: Merecure tree. For the record that is the local name here in Venezuela, Its scientific name is Licania pyrifolia."