Red-Tailed Hawks Badly Burned by Landfill Gas Flame

KEARNY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) —Two red-tailed hawks had their feathers singed by flares at the Keegan Landfill in Kearny, New Jersey. To reduce the fumes, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA), which runs the landfill, built an open system to burn the potentially harmful hydrogen sulfide gas. The flares are unintentionally hurting birds. Two red-tailed hawks had their feathers …

Bergen County Audubon Honors Executive Director Chris Soucy

On September 15 at the Meadowlands Birding Festival, our own Executive Director, Chris Soucy, received a very special award from Bergen County Audubon Society: the first-ever Frank Chapman Award. This honor is bestowed on individuals in recognition of their commitment to the conservation, protection, and preservation of avian wildlife. The award was so named after Frank M. Chapman, a native …

Jersey City Falcons Reunited

Peregrine falcons in Jersey City

The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife are investigating why window washers sprayed a nest of endangered peregrine falcons living on a Jersey City skyscraper, causing two juvenile chicks to fall 41 stories. The incident began in the morning on Sunday, June 16 when window washers entered the roof of the Merrill-Lynch building near the falcons’ nest box. When …

Invasion of the Saw Whets!

This winter we admitted a record number of Saw Whet Owls. From October through February we admitted 23 of these little birds. Saw Whet Owls are generally found much further north, however in “irruptive” years large numbers of birds move south. The exact cause of these irruptions is not known, however scientists believe it is a lack of food up …

Snowy Owl rescued from industrial chimney

January 24, 2018 (courtesy of Bayonne Briefs) Rescuers at NJ Animal Control and Rescue save a snowy owl stuck in an industrial chimney at a power plant in Bayonne on Jan. 8. Likely trying to escape the bitter cold, the owl became trapped when workers at the plant spotted it and contacted animal control. The bird was diagnosed as healthy, …

Guess Hoo-Hoo-Hooo is Back in Clark

(Photo credit: John Pingor) By ELIZABETH PARASCANDOLA-CLEE November 22, 2017 at 7:33 AM CLARK, NJ – It is Thanksgiving week and one nocturnal raptor living in town has much to be thankful for this year.    The Great-Horned owl found caught in a soccer net at Arthur L. Johnson High School in August is back in town, thanks to the kindness …

Shot bald eagle rescued from tree in Hunterdon suffers setbacks during rehab

By Toniann Antonelli- March 26, 2016 (NJ1015.com) After showing signs of improvement several weeks ago, “Lily,” an American bald eagle that was rescued from a tree in Alexandria after being shot in the leg, has suffered more health setbacks, caretakers said. When Lily was first brought to The Raptor Trust, the Millington facility rehabilitating the eagle, caretakers were cautiously optimistic …

Shot bald eagle, Lily, returns to the wild

By Justin Zaremba- June 25, 2016 (NJ.com)

SUSSEX — Nine months after he was found shot and suffering from lead poisoning, Lily, a bald eagle, has been released back into the wild in time for the fall migration, according to The Raptor Trust, the wild bird rehabilitation center that took in the bird.

Lily, despite the name, is a four-year-old male who was found in a Pittstown neighborhood this past December. Named by a young girl from the area, Lily was taken in by wildlife rehabilitation experts with The Raptor Trust when the bird failed to move from the tree he was in for several days.

The bird was found to have broken bones and significant tissue and nerve damage as a result of the shooting, and required several surgeries. Lead poisoning from the gun shot also required multiple rounds of treatment, known as chelation.

“This bird has some challenges to face when it returns to the wild, for sure,” Raptor Trust director Chris Soucy said in a statement. “While its leg has healed fairly well, there is some lingering nerve damage. However, it is an experienced adult bird. It has survived in the wild for several years already, it flies really well and it knows what it has to do to hunt, scavenge and live in the wild.”

The 3-year-old male bald eagle is feisty with handlers and slowly eating on his own.

Soucy added: “Both of his other options — a life in captivity or euthanasia — are really lousy options. He’s ready to go and now and we have an obligation to give him his chance.”

Lily was released into the wild at the Walkill River National Wildlife Refuge in Sussex last week along the Appalachian Mountain flyway, just in time for fall migration season, The Raptor Trust said.

Bald eagles, an endangered species in New Jersey, are protected by both state and federal laws, including the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

The Raptor Trust said U.S. Fish and Wildlife has been investigating the shooting but no arrests have yet been made. An $8,000 reward has been offered for information leading to a conviction in Lily’s shooting, the group said.

Anyone with information regarding this crime can contact a local US Fish and Wildlife Service Office.