Swainson’s Hawk (Buteo swainsoni)
Injured in Northern Wyoming, this bird was transferred to the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program from our friends at Teton Raptor Center in December 2011 (her hatch date was spring of 2011).
She had a broken right ulna (lower wing bone) that healed in an over-riding fashion preventing flight. Because of her disability, she became an Educational Ambassador raptor at RMRP. Over the following year we got to watch her gradually molt in her adult plumage – such a an amazing honor!
In the spring of 2018, she laid her first egg with us. Since then, she has laid multiple (unfertilized) eggs in our care. Laying eggs is a honor for RMRP. Although we do not breed raptors at our facility and the eggs she laid were unfertilized, it means a lot to us that she was so comfortable that she laid eggs with us (rare in captive raptors!).