When a collared sparrowhawk comes to visit – call us!
You wouldn’t expect to be greeted by a raptor at your front door on a quiet mid-week morning, but this is exactly what happened to one surprised Victorian earlier this year.
When they opened their door, a young collared sparrowhawk flew inside. Once inside the house, the distressed bird collided with walls and windows before collapsing on the floor, unable to move. As you can imagine, the concerned resident was unsure what to do and called our Emergency Response Service for help.
To minimise stress to the young sparrowhawk, our Emergency Response Operator advised the caller to give the bird space and to keep children and pets away. Collared sparrowhawks are a type of raptor, or bird of prey, with strong beaks and sharp talons which they use to catch their prey. To avoid injury, we encourage members of the public to keep their distance while we dispatch a volunteer with specialised training and equipment.
Thankfully, Jess, one of our skilled raptor-trained volunteer rescuers, responded quickly and contained the large bird safely. The bird was transported to a local veterinary clinic where it spent the night under observation. Cleared of injury the next morning, Jess returned and was able to release the sparrowhawk back to the wild, watching the bird fly safely off into the distance.
Rescues of animals like collared sparrowhawks can be dangerous and laborious, and require specialised training and experience. Wildlife Victoria provides specialised training to our volunteers to ensure we can help wildlife, no matter how big or small.