JACKSON, Wyo. — The Teton Raptor Center rehabilitated and released an American kestrel last month after the bird crashed and was found stunned on the tarmac at the airport.
Rylee Gibbs, a raptor rehabilitation technician with the Teton Raptor Center, told Buckrail that a biologist with Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) brought the kestrel in after it had been downed on the tarmac next to an airplane. Gibbs said the bird was likely stunned and was not very responsive when it was admitted on April 26.
“We knew it was some kind of plane interference, but we weren’t sure really what was going on,” Gibbs said. “We were thinking, maybe, as opposed to getting hit by a plane, that maybe the turbulence from a landing plane knocked him out and knocked him on the ground. Or potentially a window strike that got him grounded next to the airplane.”
According to a social media post by the Raptor Center, upon intake, everything seemed normal other than some inflammation and mild blood in his eye. Gibbs said the bird spent a few days in the rehab ICU and was treated with pain medication and anti-inflammatory eye drops.
The bird was moved a few days later to a larger enclosure, where the team watched his flight ability. The social media post states that within a few more days, the kestrel passed his live-prey test. After the research team banded the bird with a unique identification leg band and recorded his body measurements, he was released back into GTNP on May 4.
“He improved very fast,” Gibbs said. “It was a pretty great turnaround with him.”
American kestrel populations have been on the decline, and scientists are struggling to find a cause. According to the National Audubon Society, many raptor species have rebounded in North America since DDT was banned in the 1970s, but American kestrel numbers have dropped by about 50%. Researchers at the Teton Raptor Center have been tracking the population decline and looking into possible theories for the rapid loss of kestrels.
“Birds of prey are indicator species,” Gibbs said. “So when one goes down, a lot of the environment is going to be affected in turn. With that, seeing a rapid decline in any major species is indicative of possibly other declines. So when we see this kind of decline in kestrels, it sends off red flags — what’s going to happen next? You know, what other species are going to be affected?”
