Banding Rehabilitated Raptors

Ed Deal began collaborating with PAWS Wildlife Center in 2015 to color-band and release wayward juvenile Peregrine Falcons who had failed to fly adequately when they left the safety of the nest ledge. These grounded juveniles were at high risk of death from threats such as cars, off-leash dogs, and raccoons. A week of practice in the safety of the PAWS flight cage typically got them strong enough to fly up to safe perches in the wild.

In collaboration with PAWS, Ed obtained the necessary state and federal permits to band all rehabilitated raptors before their release back into the wild.

In 2018, URC banded these 43 raptors that were released by PAWS:

• 18 diurnal raptors — 7 Bald Eagles, 5 Red-tailed Hawks, 3 Cooper’s Hawks, 3 Peregrine Falcons.
• 25 owls — 14 Barred Owls, 4 Northern Saw-whet Owls, 3 Barn Owls, 3 Northern Pygmy Owls, 1 Great Horned Owl.

So far we have information on four band returns from these released raptors. Two were found dead: a Barred Owl hit by a car on Whidbey Island and a Cooper’s Hawk at Gasworks Park.

But these two raptors were photographed alive and were positively identified by their ID bands:

• The juvenile Cooper’s Hawk above was released in Tacoma in 2018 and photographed in flight later that year in Puyallup.
• The immature Bald Eagle below was released on the Skagit River in November 2018 and re-sighted on January 2019.

By putting ID bands on these rehabbed raptors before their release, we help to document their future stories.

Bald Eagle Release on the Skagit River, Washington

(Video, KIRO7 News)