Defiance moved to Elmwood Park Zoo (Part 1)
LAS CRUCES— Defiance is a peregrine falcon who lost a wing and survived agonizing ordeals before his rescue and rehab in New Mexico. Now the feisty bird, who was not expected to live, has a birdy buddy and a posh habitat in a new territory almost 2,000 miles away.
"Defiance earned his name because he defied animal control, his human care-giver, injury, starvation, infection and even death," said Jessica Palmer, a Chihuahua Desert Wildlife Rescue (CDWR) rehabilitation specialist who cared for Defiance in her Las Cruces home. Defiance was a fledgling, just 'earning his wings' when he was picked up and swept by high wind to become tangled in string or wire. As an inexperienced flyer, the peregrine could have simply miscalculated or misjudged the distance of something. Either way, he became entangled in wire, mostly barbed wire or high tension lines. He must have hung by the wing for days until the weight of his body severed the limb from his body," Palmer reports. "Despite the ordeal, it took the Dona Ana Animal Control officer nearly a full day to capture the peregrine. She gave chase with her nets and he, as his name suggests, defied her," Palmer said.
By the time Defiance arrived at her home on July 7, Palmer's evaluation indicated the bird had managed to survive for a week without food and with a life-threatening wound that was infected.
"The severing of wing near the shoulder is among the worst injuries a bird can receive. The major arteries and veins run directly between heart and lungs into the wing. Usually, the bird will bleed to death. If it survives, the presence of infection (can be) lethal, the risk of death increased since the toxins quickly spread to the vital organs and throughout the body."
It seemed unlikely he would survive the night. But Palmer, experienced in wildlife rehabilitation as well as a nurse, educator and an author of novels, sci-fi and fantasy, textbooks and nonfiction historical works, was hoping for a happy ending.
"He was provided with a warm, restful environment and given a small amount of food and water, for fear his body would reject too grand a feast," Palmer said. "When he tolerated the first meal, more food was supplied. As evening drew to a close, he had eaten well. Still, as the sun set, the death watch began. At first light he was found, still standing, with a look of defiance upon his face. As if to say: "So you thought I was going to die."
Defiance's wound was treated and he was given antibiotics, but Palmer admits that each night she "said a formal farewell, not expecting him to be alive the next day, and each morning, I found him with that same look of defiance upon his face."
The bird's survival presented its own set of problems, including a search for a home.
"Obviously he was going to live and equally obvious, he could not be released to the wild. Once it became apparent the bird would survive, verbal permission was obtained from the Federal Government to place him. The total loss of a wing usually requires euthanasia," she said, because "it may lead to severe loss of balance. Birds use their wings as much to maintain balance while standing and walking as to fly. With the total loss, the bird may fall, often sustaining further injuries."
But dauntless, Defiance "beat the odds. He learned, and he learned quickly, to tuck and roll like an acrobat. He learned to climb and he learned to jump from perch to perch."
Palmer stressed there is no warm and fuzzy bird-human love story to report.
Defiance "was neither intimidated nor impressed" by Palmer, but "tolerated" her, "as the bringer of food and human 'lunch lady.'"
He let her know that "his forbearance was conditional, every time I entered the pen, with sloshing bucket and scrub brush. Defiance would climb up to the highest perch and leap down to land on my head, shoulder or back. He would stomp around a few times to notify me that he was in charge here and I was allowed into his territory on sufferance" and then "he jumped back onto his perch and watched for any false moves."
But one of nature's fiercest predators did not attack his savior.
"Never once during this weekly assertion of territory did this creature--who could have easily ripped flesh from bone--break the skin. Never a scratch," Palmer said.
And the plucky bird was suddenly very popular.
"Competition was fierce, with six different states applying to provide a home for him. It became a choice of what was best for the individual bird and for the species of as a whole."
