Altoona Merlin

Admission Date: 11 December 2018
Outcome: Released 4 January 2019 at SOAR
Location of Rescue: Altoona, Iowa
Cause of Admission / Condition: Grounded, hit window
Patient Status: Patient Archive

Thanks to a homeowner’s persistence, this merlin is recovering at SOAR. This merlin struck a window, likely in pursuit of a meal, and became grounded. Homeowner rescued and placed in dark, secure place and started making phone calls. A call to SOAR friend Marla (and likely others) got this bird some attention.

The ‘rescue pony express’ went into action and the merlin was delivered to SOAR. Merlin has no broken bones, just needs some quiet time and then flight pen time.

This merlin is very dark in color and is unusual to see in the Midwest. Consulting bird books and online resources… a black subspecies.

Updates:

17 December 2018
Merlin is in flight pen favoring her right shoulder, not flying yet.