Osprey admitted after fight with eagle
By Joanna Fitzgerald | Director of the von Arx Wildlife Hospital
An osprey was among the 83 animals admitted to the von Arx Wildlife Hospital at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida last week.
Workers on a local golf course saw an altercation between an osprey and bald eagle and thought nothing of it because encounters between eagles and ospreys are fairly common. The workers at the course came back a while later, noticed the osprey was in the same place on the ground and realized it was a baby that was injured.
The nestling osprey had a large puncture wound on the right side of its neck and two more punctures along the back of its neck. The wound on the side of the neck required immediate attention. After the osprey was given electrolytes and pain medication it was placed on oxygen in an animal intensive care unit to rest while our vet prepped for surgery.
The osprey went into respiratory distress during surgery making it too risky to continue to perform surgery under anesthesia. Our vet switched her approach to the situation and was able to suture the neck wound using a local anesthetic to numb the area around the wound site. The situation wasn’t ideal but the osprey was alive and that was our top priority. The osprey’s condition was critical which necessitated the bird be kept on oxygen in an animal intensive care unit for three days. Supportive care included oral and subcutaneous electrolytes, antibiotics, pain medication, anti-inflammatory medication and Chinese herbs.
After three days, the osprey’s wounds were healing well and the bird was gaining strength so a diet of whole fish was added to the treatment plan. The osprey would not eat on its own so staff needed to hand fed the bird twice a day. By day five the osprey was strong enough to be moved to an enclosure in the bird room. The osprey was offered a large finger mullet which it eagerly ate on its own.
A short video clip of the osprey eating a finger mullet can be seen below. It is great to see the osprey recovering so well and eagerly enjoying a meal.
Recent Releases — 21 Animals Returned Home
- 2 gopher tortoises
- 2 royal terns
- 2 peninsula cooters
- 1 northern mockingbird
- 1 anhinga
- 2 ospreys
- 5 eastern cottontails
- 1 eastern screech owl
- 2 mourning doves
- 1 red-bellied turtle
- 1 gray squirrel
- 1 broad-winged hawk
Opportunities to Help
Please visit the Conservancy’s Facebook page to view more photos of Hector and Conservancy volunteers re-nesting the great horned owl. Learn about all of the amazing volunteer opportunities at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida at our website at www.conservancy.org. Your volunteer time, as well as memberships and donations, are vital in helping us continue our work to protect Southwest Florida’s water, land, wildlife and future.
Joanna Fitzgerald is director of the von Arx Wildlife Hospital at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. Call 239–262–2273 or see conservancy.org.
