Page 345 - Hand rearing birds second

Diurnal Raptors 335

8–12 hours to prevent osteomyelitis (Hawkins et al. 2018). See Ponder and Willette (2017) for
information regarding management of orthopedic injuries in raptors, including chicks.

Parasitism
Severe infestations of external or internal parasites are sometimes found in young raptors. Pale
mucus membranes or emaciation should lead to further diagnostics such as a blood smear or fecal
analysis, if not done routinely. Coccidia infections may be severe enough to cause anemia and a
failure to thrive, as can leucocytozoonosis, especially in older post-fledging birds. Coccidiosis is
best treated with ponazuril (various brand names) compounded into a liquid of 50–100 mg/ml and
dosed at 20 mg/kg once a day for a week. Coccidia is one parasite that keeps evolving resistance,
and sometimes different antiparasitic drugs need to be used in progression to remove all signs.
Treatment can also involve a week-on, week-off, week-on regimen to get all life stages of this para-
site. Another common drug to use for coccidia is Toltrazuril (Baycox, Bayer) at 10 mg/kg once every
other day for three treatments (Hawkins et al. 2018). Leucocytozoon infection is treated with both
Primaquine given once PO at 0.75–1.0 mg/kg and then Chloroquine at 25 mg/kg at 0 hour, and
thereafter 15 mg/kg at hours 12, 24, and 48 (Hawkins et al. 2018). Ectoparasites, which may also
lead to severe anemia or feather damage if not controlled, can be treated with a pyrethrin-based
powder. Treating all birds for external parasites upon admission is a good practice to help limit
disease and blood parasite transmission between birds.

Imprinting­and Habituation
Young raptors in the hands of the public are frequently malimprinted on humans, which, though
not a medical problem, nevertheless leads to a nonreleasable bird. This may become a lethal prob-
lem if placement in permanent care is not available. Euthanasia may be the only option in such
cases, because these birds cannot be released.

Re-nesting

Usually, the best choice for an uninjured, displaced wild raptor is returning it to its nest. Local tree
services, arborists, utilities, and state or federal forest service offices may have tree climbers willing
to assist in returning youngsters to nests.

Fostering

Placing uninjured, displaced hatchling or nestling raptors in a foster nest is also an option prefer-
able to being raised by humans. Care should be taken in regard to the following: that the orphan
and his surrogate nestmates are old enough to thermoregulate in case the brooding adult female is
flushed from the nest for a prolonged period of time by the activity of adding a new youngster; that
a nest is not overloaded, jeopardizing the ability of the parents to care for the expanded number
of young; that nestmates are neither so much older nor so much younger than the introduced
youngster that it would either outcompete the natural young or be outcompeted. Maximum num-
ber per nest is dependent on the normal number of young for each species. A kestrel nest might
do well with four to five chicks, whereas two to three would be maximum for an osprey nest.