TRC Taiga and Merlins

Taiga the merlin (photo J Fischer)

Taiga, our winged ambassador merlin, is anticipating her meal today! 

In 2001, Taiga was probably heading to the southern United States or possibly even Central or South America when she was found in Mankato, Minnesota, unable to stand or fly. She was admitted to our clinic with a suspected spinal injury, along with other injuries.  She is now a part of our education winged ambassadors team.  Her story is here.  She is also a part of our Adopt a Raptor program.  Adoption gifts help feed, house, and provide medical care for these education stars, who because of extensive injuries cannot be released back into the wild.

Merlins are falcons that can be seen in Minnesota.  Here is a link to our TRC species page.  The Minnesota Ornithologists Union has a site where you can look up the occurrence of a species in Minnesota, by county, and by season.  Here is a merlin occurrence map for spring.

Merlin occurrence map for spring

 

Companion Bird Rotation at TRC

The Companion Bird Rotation was held at The Raptor Center (TRC) over the last two weeks. This is a clinical training rotation for 4th-year veterinary students (at the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota) who are graduating in May.

During their rotation, the students studied a wide range of avian-related topics (behavior, nutrition, diseases, etc), were able to visit several avian facilities, including MAARS (Midwest Avian Adoption & Rescue Services), and spent time in The Raptor Center’s medical and surgical clinic.

The first two photos show the students examining companion bird patients at MAARS. 











 


The next two photos show the students, guided by Dr. Redig and using cadavers, learning how to repair fractures in avian patients using orthopedic  techniques.  

Thank you to Dr. Bueno-Padilla and Dr. Wang for providing photos.

Golden Eagle Travels Continue

GOEA 45

We're happy to give you an update on the travels of three golden eagles.  The project information, along with interactive map and bios of the birds, can be found on Audubon Minnesota's site here.  You can also find information on National Eagle Center's site.

GOEA45 – Jeanette – arrived back on her breeding site on April 3, the same day she arrived in 2012. This year we recorded her traveling about 1800 miles compared with the 2200 miles she travelled last year (these distances are measured directly between evening roosts so do not include any meanderings during the day). She left her Waupaca County, Wis wintering area on March 1 this year and Feb 16 last year. In the map, see the red line is her travel in 2012 and the yellow line is her

GOEA 45 - comparison of spring 2012 (red)
and spring 2013 (yellow) routes

travel in 2013. 

GOEA 46's travels

GOEA46 – Wa Hap” pe – has finally left Minnesota. He took off on March 26, went straight north near (but not over) Duluth and was in northern Ontario on April 4.

GOEA 53's travels

GOEA53 – Jack – has spent the past few days north of the Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories, Canada. We will have to wait and see if this is his summer destination and if he shows any indication of nesting here