This beautiful adult redtail was shot on purpose with a shotgun. You can see the spot on his right wrist where surgery was done to remove the pellet. There are two others in him, one in the right leg and one near his left wrist. Neither of those are causing problems. The one in his right wing landed in just the wrong place, his wrist joint. Hopefully by removing the pellet and with cage rest he will again be able to fly.
Thanks to Daniel Meyers, Meyers Ranch, just east of Garland, who spotted him as he was parking his tractor for the night. Because he called me right away this handsome hawk has a chance of returning to the wild.
The top photo shows the xray of this bird. You can readily see the one in his right wrist. Harder to see are the other two as they are smaller. Look hard.
This type of human behavior just makes me livid! People who do such things unfortunately get away with it unseen just too often. Gerrrrrrrr
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