In 2004, the Belize Bird Rescue was formed for injured parrots in need of assistance. After eight years, the initiative has grown and to date it assists several other species of birds. The latest bird that the organization is assisting is a female Common Black Hawk which was rescued and treated. This morning the hawk was transported to Ambergris Caye where it will be released into its natural habitat. Sarah Mon and Jonathan Urbina, of Belize Bird Rescue, were the hawk’s crucial guardians in its road to recovery and this morning the duo shared how they plan to release the hawk back into the wild
JONATHON URBINA
“This individual came from a nest from Caye Caulker; its parents decided to build the nest within a yard and then the parents became very protective and they would attack people coming around. So, the chick was removed and was sent to the Belize Bird Rescue which is located in Roaring Creek. In the process of it being moved it broke several bones and this was a part of the rehabilitation center. Sarah, she was a part of the one who fed them and they had to do several bandages; through some flight training, it’s at the level where it is now ready and good to go; it’s able to hunt on its own, even though we had been its parents, to a certain extent and now she’s ready to go. We are thankful to Maya Island Air who flew us over to San Pedro and released it there.”
SARAH MON
“We have a family in San Pedro and they will be the parents for the next three weeks; it’s going to be a soft release. We will open the kennel, we will let him come out, look at his surroundings, he will stay in that area; the children will find crabs for him, putting him in a pool and what happens is that over time he will stop coming in for the food and that is what we consider soft release; he will get used to the area and know where his territory is.”
According to Urbina, the female hawk which is between four to five months of age will be released at the northern part of Ambergris Caye.
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