Red-tailed hawk found with feathers on wings, tail cut off
By Todd Kazakiewich
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SHREWSBURY, Massachusetts (WCVB) — Police are investigating after a red-tailed hawk was found in Paxton, Massachusetts, with the feathers of its wings and tail cut off.
“When I first held the bird, I noticed that every single feather on both its wings and tail were sheared and look to be intentionally cut off,” Jess Zorge, of Raptor Tales Rescue, said.
Zorge, whose home sanctuary has been profiled on “Chronicle,” takes care of injured raptors, which is why she got the call from a resident of Paxton, who said she found the bird in her yard.
“This bird would be rendered unable to fly. It would just be roaming on the ground in zero-degree weather and likely die, starve, not being able to find food or shelter. So, we believe that someone keep it illegally — potentially as a pet — and cut those feathers to have it stay inside and not fly,” Zorge said.
It’s illegal to own a raptor without a permit in Massachusetts. Environmental police are investigating. They picked up the hawk in Paxton, and Zorge is now caring for it in Shrewsbury.
The raptor’s recovery will likely be long, painful and costly.
“It would need some long-term rehab — at least two years — which is very costly. It’s very expensive to feed one of these birds every day for two years. And there’s no guarantee that these feathers are going to grow back. Normally, they don’t molt out or fall out at the same time, so that length of time is also just to guess so far,” Zorge said.
In 10 years of treating mostly accidental injuries, Zorge said this is the most traumatic injury she’s ever seen — and it’s intentional.
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