Virginia Red-Shouldered Hawk Too Fat to Fly After Feasting on Neighbor's Chickens: 910-Gram Bird Put on a Diet
Roanoke, Virginia, has taken in an unusual patient: an adult female red-shouldered hawk found sitting in a resident's driveway refusing to fly. Vets at the local wildlife hospital ruled out fractures, lead poisoning, eye problems, head trauma, emaciation and bruising — the scale gave the answer. She weighed more than 910 grams (about 2 pounds) and was diagnosed as too fat to fly. She is now on a weight-loss diet.
According to the case post published on Facebook by the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke, the hawk — patient RSHA 26-2599 — was found about a mile from the center. "The diagnosis: At over 910g in weight, she was too darn fat to fly! We couldn't even palpate her keel due to the heavy layer of fat covering it," the center wrote. By the center's account, that is nearly a full pound above the normal weight for a female of her species, and it noted that it is "RARE for wild animals to become obese without human intervention."
The reason soon became clear. The resident who found the bird asked around and learned that free-roaming chickens nearby had been disappearing at an alarming rate over the previous several weeks. The center described her routine: "This queen was picking off the buffet of easy prey set out before her, eating her fill, and then snoozing in the trees nearby until she was ready to eat again. The chickens were let out in the morning, she ate another, and repeat. After weeks of repeating this feasting and sleeping, it's no wonder she got too fat to fly!" The center added that the excess weight had left the predator "extremely vulnerable."
The case was first reported by outlets including UPI in early November and spread widely on social media after Dexerto and other platforms picked it up on November 5, drawing amused comments from Facebook users. The center says the hawk is staying on a weight-loss diet and urges chicken owners to cover their runs so backyards do not become buffets for wild predators. As of publication, the center has not announced when she might reach a healthy weight and return to the wild.
Source: Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 红肩鹰资料图（Andy Morffew 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons），非涉事鹰只
