Employees at Northrup Grumman in Beavercreek, Ohio, rescued an injured red-tailed hawk that was loitering near the business on Monday.
The 1-year-old male raptor was seen hanging out on the ground despite umans nearby, and the workers didn’t know what to do.
They got some direction when they called the Glen Helen Raptor Center and spoke to Director Rebecca Jaramillo.
Jaramillo told the group that if they could capture the bird and take it to the center, workers there could care for it and try to get it back in the air.
The workers followed Jaramillo’s instructions and corralled the bird, put a blanket over it and put it in a box before taking it to the raptor center in Yellow Springs.
Sharon Bond, one of several employees who helped capture the animal, said it took about five minutes.
“It wasn’t difficult, but it was like, ‘Can we actually catch it?’ because they’re fast,” Bond said.
The bird’s left wing was swollen from an injury and it was put in the raptor center’s critical care clinic, which is off limits to the public.
“It probably has a broken wing, most likely from a car collision,” director Jaramillo said.
Red-tailed hawks have an 80 percent mortality rate, and Jaramillo said it’s not unusual to see young red-tails become distressed in their first year of life.
While it was an extraordinary day for the employees at Northrup Grumman, it was just a routine day at the center.
Jaramillo said the center sees 150 to 200 birds brought in every year.
The center does not have the staff to respond and pick up distressed birds.
“We rely on people to step out of their comfort zone and bring birds in,” Jaramillo said. “It’s absolutely wonderful that they went out of their way and got this bird contained and brought it in to us.”
The hawk will likely be in the critical care clinic for a while before it can be moved to a recovery flight cage, where it can regain its strength. The goal will be to release it back into the wild.
For Bond and her co-workers, it will be one of their more memorable Mondays.
“We are superheroes,” Bond said with a laugh. “Everyone just joined in to help.”
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