Hawk caught in car grille now recovering at CROW Clinic

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Red-shouldered hawk photo via CROW Clinic.

A red-shouldered hawk is now recovering at the CROW Clinic on Sanibel after it got stuck in the grille of a car for hours.

The driver didn’t notice the bird was there until the next day, and were shocked the bird was still alive after traveling 100 miles.

The driver said the hawk was wedged so far in his car that he had to cut the bottom plastic cover over the radiator off to get the bird out. They expected it to be dead but to his surprise, the hawk started moving when he grabbed it to pull it out.

He took it to the CROW and doctors said the hawk suffered head trauma, so it could’ve been knocked out from initial trauma.

“He has been excellent, he is standing, he’s trying to rip his bandage off which is a sign of you know hes feeling pretty good,” said Dr. Malka Spektor with CROW. “He actually..we gave him a chick last night as dinner and he ripped it apart so he’s definitely feeling better because he wasn’t eating the first few days.”

Doctors expect his full recovery to take at least another month.

You can track his recovery process online on their website here. 

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