A half-starved red-tailed hawk that was picked up from the streets of midtown on Wednesday has a 50-50 shot at survival, according to experts.
The young hawk, who was given a police escort to Wild Bird Fund Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center on the Upper East Side, weighed only about half of what it should have when it was discovered on the pavement on West 57th Street near Sixth Avenue this week, said Rita McMahon, the center's director.
"Come the frigid temperatures, all the prey that he would normally be able to swoop up are hiding too," she said. "So he's starved, he hasn't found food." So famished was the young bird that its body was deriving nutrients from its internal organs, which employees at the center are currently working to restore.
McMahon said it's too soon to tell whether the hawk is going to make it, though McMahon is trying to remain optimistic. "He's looking good—he's standing up on his log, he's getting fluid food three times a day. And he's feeling better," she said. "But he was so starved, it's really a question."
The center is currently working to rehabilitate two other red-tailed hawks found in the city—one which was shot with a pellet gun in Brooklyn, and another that flew into a building and suffered head trauma. Both are in relatively good shape, and are expected to be released in the coming days.
