West Winnipeg - 2017 / In Captivity - Beau (2007- )

[The Peregrine Chick]

Thanks for adding this GCG - I hadn't realized they would be posting the interview on their website.

And for those wondering (and for Treytrey on the CBC website), I have asked CBC to correct Beau's name in the story - gotta love "report typo" links on online stories.

[GCG]

This was on the CBC news site this morning.

Injured Peregrine falcon rescued from Winnipeg parking lot
Peregrine rescue group hoping for a good outcome for injured falcon
CBC News / Apr 08, 2015


Peregrine falcon named 'Bo' was rescued from the Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg on Monday. (Paul Friesen)

It was a rough homecoming for a Winnipegger fresh off his migration home from Mexico.

Beau is a peregrine falcon that took refuge at the Canadian Mennonite University on Monday. Paul Friesen, a librarian at the school, came across the bird in a parking lot, injured and unable to fly.

"I've seen them in the air and perched on buildings and that sort of thing but never up close like this. It's a gorgeous bird. It's awe inspiring," Friesen told Ismaila Alfa on CBC's Up to Speed.

"We tried not to get too close to it," Friesen said. "At one point we wanted to get a better look at it from the front, then it scurried off across the grass a little bit. While we were waiting for [a conservation officer] to come, we decided to put a cardboard box over it to help protect it and and try to calm it down a bit."

The bird stayed in its box for about an hour until someone from Manitoba Conservation could come and rescue the bird.


The falcon suffered from wing fractures and could not fly. (Paul Friesen)

Beau's back story

Tracy Maconachie, the coordinator of the Manitoba Peregrine Falcon Recovery Project, was contacted by Friesen after he found the injured bird.

"It's not the first call I've had about a downed bird over the years," she said. "The first thing is: lets make sure it's a peregrine. And he was very specific, as soon as he said there are bands on his legs and the size of a crow, that's a pretty good indication that it is a peregrine."  Then she says, the next step is to see who the bird is and if it's injured.

The tag on Beau's leg makes it easy for Maconachie to know more about him. For starters, he was born in captivity but released into the wild in Manitoba back in 2007. Maconachie explained that Beau was the West Winnipeg resident male and he had been since 2010.

"Now we knew he wasn't going to be the resident male this year, he had been supplanted already by a young male that's been hanging out in Selkirk for the last couple of years," she said.

One can speculate that this was the culprit that injured Beau in the first place.

"He's a really cool, laid back kind of bird, takes everything in stride, knows how to provide for his family," said Maconachie. "We're hoping the prognosis is good, but it's always a little dicey with birds."

Maconachie says Beau has some small fractures in his wing, which aren't too serious — but also has some lacerations on his breast which will require surgery and rehabilitation.

"He'll be assessed to see whether or not he's capable of living on his own in the wild safely," she said. "If not, we'll find a placement for him if need be in a captive facility."

Maconachie isn't alone in hoping for a good outcome.

"One doesn't like to see a bird that's been injured. Hopefully it will survive and live to catch lots of pigeons in Winnipeg," said Friesen.

Hopefully Winnipeggers will be seeing Beau again soon when the Falcon Cams come on in mid-May.


Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/injured-peregrine-falcon-rescued-from-winnipeg-parking-lot-1.3025773  

[Kinderchick]

Aww! Poor Beau! Well, at least we know he made it back to Winnipeg & is now in good hands, having his injuries attended to. Will be very eager to hear how his surgery & rehab goes.

[dupre501]

Wishing Beau a complete and swift recovery. Will miss seeing him this year.

Looks like he arrived back at about the time he did last year.

[sparkster]

I am sorry to hear that Beau is injured, but I am glad that he was found and is in good care. Get well soon, Beau! 

[birdbrain]

Thank you for the information, sure hope he has a quick recovery and that he can return to the wild.

[Pam]

Wish Beau a good and speedy recovery, such a good-looking bird....

[The Peregrine Chick]

Were his injuries due to a territorial battle or just a mishap, or, no one knows...?

I asked and at the moment the vet won't hazard a guess.  I hope to be able to get more information after the surgery which is when the vet will of course be able to get a nice long look at his injuries.  Perhaps then she might be able to hazard a guess but perhaps it will just remain a mystery.  If she does think it was conflict rather than hunting accident or some such, it still wouldn't answer if it was a peregrine or another raptor like a Great Horned Owl (they have chicks at the moment) or something else.  He was found within the WW territory which means not very far from the various WW nestsites (nothing in the territory is very far when you are a peregrine) but he was found near the Assiniboine Forest and not far from the Assiniboine River so pretty much where there are other raptors - eagles, hawks and owls - are hanging out and then of course, there is Ty at the nestsite.

[allikat]

Beau is a beauty!
Were his injuries due to a territorial battle or just a mishap, or, no one knows...?
Either way, I'm glad he is in great hands and being taken care of, peregrine style! 

[The Peregrine Chick]

thanks Bev! 


And no folks you don't have to post whether you are donating or not 
I just wanted to let everyone know what I would be doing with a portion of our donations this year.

[bev.]

poor Beau. glad he was found and is being taken care of . now we know why he is not at WEst Winnipeg.

I will send a donation tonight. I know how much quail they eat. you can use all my donation for the quail and i will send another to you for your site later in season.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Because Beau is probably going to need quite a bit of time for rehabilitation, I thought I would put in an order for quail from a supplier out East to help out the rehabbers.  I don't know yet where he'll go for rehab, it will depend on a) his prognosis after surgery, b) who can care for him and c) who has the best set-up to aid in his recovery.  But I thought I'd get the ball rolling now and when we know, all will be in place.

So for folks who have already made a donation in 2015 or who are thinking of making a donation, a portion of all donations this year will go towards an order of quail.  All the rehabbers in the province have helped us out over the years and we make regular donations to their activities, but because Beau may be in care for a few months (we won't know for awhile yet how long), knowing there is a steady source of good "eats" is one way to help him out and the rehabbers out. And he wouldn't be the only one, there are other raptor and some mammal species that find their way to our rehab organizations later in the year that would benefit from some extra quail as well.

Will keep folks in the loop as we go along.  Donations can be me made by mail or online - all the information is on the website - www.species-at-risk.mb.ca/peregrines - there is a link bottom right on the main page of the website.
  

[carly]

Soon as I saw the bands I suspect it was him.  Poor guy, I sure am glad he was found and is being taken care of.

[The Peregrine Chick]

I was hoping to get a bit more information before the news broke and now I do.

The injured bird is a peregrine, it is Beau from West Winnipeg.  He was found by the folks at CMU on Monday and they called me for assistance.  I wasn't able to get to him in a timely fashion but did manage to find someone at Manitoba Conservation office despite their offices being closed for Easter Monday.  He was able to retrieve Beau and take him to the vet.

I got an update on his condition last night ...

Beau has a couple of fractures to his ulna that look as though they will heal on their own with proper treatment and lacerations on his breast and perhaps some soft tissue bruising on his feet.  The feet will be fine, the lacerations maybe the most serious of his injuries.  He's got a bit of an infection so he's getting a course of antibiotics prior to surgery which should improve his ability to heal afterwards.  He's in good shape and seems to be dealing with being in care well, but the caveat is that anything can happen.  But he's a tough bird and in good hands now.  After surgery, he will need a period of recovery, then rehabilitation and depending on how things heal up, he will be assessed to see if he can be re-released into the wild.  We/they won't know until he is back to using his wings in a flight cage to know.  No idea how long his recuperation will be but will post updates as we get them.

I've got some additional photos of himself from Monday - will see about posting one or two this evening.

[Alison]

I don't know if this is the correct place to post this question.  I noticed on twitter that CMU was thanking Manitoba Conservation for rescuing a bird today.  To my novice eyes it looked like a Peregrine to me.  Could you tell me if it was?  I noticed from the picture it had a band on it's leg.  Hope it's ok.

I don't know much about this incident, but the bird is a peregrine. Looks like a hacked bird; red band on the right leg (sideways zero over sideways eight), silver band on the left leg. I too hope the bird will be okay; don't know what the injuries are, or where the bird was taken for care.

Photo from the CMU site:



https://www.facebook.com/CMUwinnipeg