Pava

Hatch Date: Spring 2021
Sex: Female
Reason Non-Releasable: Blind in one eye due to car collision
Species Weight Range: 1.1–3.7 lbs (500–1700 g)
Joined TRC Team: March 2022
Favorite Enrichment: Flight training
Fun Fact: Outside of mating and nesting seasons, Swainson’s Hawks primarily eat insects such as grasshoppers.

Pava was found with head trauma and emaciated in the late summer of 2021. She was just a few months old when she entered TRC’s Clinic for rehabilitation. Despite our best efforts, her left eye was left completely blind by the injury. As a young, naive bird with one of the longest migrations (over 6,000 miles each way) we thought her chances of survival if released with only one good eye were very low. So, we decided to see if Pava would respond well to training, and despite all she had already been through in her short life, she took to it right away. Now, Pava is one of our most steady birds for any program.

Photo Credit: David Akoubian