THREATS AND

CONSERVATION

Rehabilitation cases highlighting the threats to
Australian raptors.

Photographer: Peg McDonald

Powerful owl that had a heavy plaster cast placed on the wing in an attempt to heal a fracture. Sadly the weight of the cast was dragging the wing on the ground and you can see the birds attempt to remove it. The cast had caused further damage to the wing and the fracture was not aligned. The bird was euthanised.

Photographer: Peg McDonald

Whistling Kite badly humanised by a rehabilitator and members of the public. Humanising a bird encourages it to have no fear of humans and in fact see them as a food source. They will readily interact with humans. It can be reversed.

Imprinting a bird is an irreversible and dangerous situation for a bird. The birds see themselves as “humans” and have no understanding of how to live life in the wild.

This young bird was virtually raised as a pet bird would be. When released it was being fed chips and other human food from the wharf but began to harass people when food was not forthcoming. It was in danger of being euthanised by the local council but was given a second chance at the HGRC. Happily it was able to learn appropriate behaviour and was successfully released back to the same location several months later. He displayed normal kite behaviour after release and there were no further incidences. 

Photographer: Peg McDonald

This Brown falcon had been under human care for some time, but sadly due to inappropriate housing and perching, had developed aspergillosis (a chronic fungal respiratory infection), an eye trauma that was not treatable, and bumblefoot. When evaluated, this bird's face was covered in the remnants of previous feeding attempts. 

Bumblefoot is a condition that develops in captivity, involving chronic and progressive pressure sores on the soles of the feet. These sores may become infected, damaging the tendons of the feet and legs, and even sepsis. In the late stages this condition is extremely challenging to treat, and sadly this bird needed to be euthanised.

Photographer: Peg McDonald

Pacific baza with poorly imped feathers.

Imping is a technique, in essence, that replaces damaged feathers with undamaged ones usually from a deceased bird. It is essentially an art form and if not done correctly, will result in damage to the feathers, early moulting and prevent the bird from flying properly, if at all. If released with incorrectly imped feathers, the bird may struggle to survive, or die.

This is an example of incorrect technique - you can see that the wing and tail feathers do not sit nicely folded. The bird eventually moulted out the incorrectly imped feathers and grew its own new ones, but this resulted in over six months of unnecessary time in care.

Photographer: Mark Kelly

This Wedge-tailed eagle had been hit by a car on the highway, and taken to a local veterinary clinic for treatment by a Good Samaritan. With the best of intentions, the veterinary staff had treated the wounds and fractures, but used a large quantity of highly adhesive elastic bandages, which tightly wrapped her wing and her body.

Unfortunately, while this type of bandaging may be appropriate for mammals, this is not appropriate for birds. Birds do not have a diaphragm, and need to consciously expand their chests in order to breathe - the ability to do this is this is considerably reduced by these restrictive and heavy bandages. 

In addition, the adhesive bandage is applied directly to the feathers, without any padding underneath. This type of bandage is extremely sticky, and either tears the feathers on removal, or leaves a thick sticky residue even when removal is  successful. Damage to almost all the feathers of the body and wing leaves the bird without the ability to shield itself from variations in temperature, wind and rain, or the ability to thermoregulate. The bird would not be able to be released back to the wild until all the affected feathers were moulted and regrown, a process that can take up to 2 years in an adult eagle. 

Photographer: Peg McDonald

Cere, beak, foot, joint and feather damage are all common traumas that may result from keeping raptors in housing that is inappropriate for the species. The Codes of Practice outline housing requirements for Australian raptors during rehabilitation, and include minimum dimensions, materials for construction and perching, and lining for privacy and reduction of stress. 

These traumas can prolong treatment, increase the time a bird is under human care, or in the worst cases, lead to euthanasia.

Left: A Greater sooty owl showing cere and foot damage

Right: A Powerful owl showing severe cere damage. This is the fleshy part of the upper mandible from which the beak grows.

Both these owl species have a "Vulnerable" conservation status.

Photographer: Peg McDonald