Oh no!

Okay, one more trip to Tensleep for yet another hawk. And oh no is right as this is a very young swainson's hawk. His name is TA and he was found just south of Buffalo on the TA Guest Ranch. His home nest is nearby and altho he'd been flying around he was found on the ground yesterday. Kirsten gathered him up, put him in a large dog crate and altho he didn't eat his meat last night apparently he ate some this morning.

He is very starved and would probably have surely died in a few days had he not been found. He does have some feather damage on both wings, don't know what caused that, but right now I can't find anything wrong other than he's so thin. I've managed to get a whole mouse, cut into small pieces, down him and I'll see how that goes. Hopefully within a couple days he'll be ripping and tearing with the best of them.

The worst part of this being a swainson's is that they are now staging for their long 12,000 mile migration to Argentina and this baby will never be ready for that. He needs to be guided by adults and others in the large group making that trek. I know he won't be strong enough, soon enough, so will winter here or be sent somewhere south until the swainson's return in the spring.