ead@PacBell.COM (Elizabeth A. Dykstra) (10/17/89)
I had an experience last weekend that I would like to share with the net. Three of us had just finished hang gliding on the dunes north of Santa Cruz, and had gone to watch the sunset at Hole in the Wall beach, a small cove with a broad sandy area protected by cliffs. We found on the beach a quite recently deceased Great Horned Owl. The owl (we nicknamed him "Hooter") was lying in a flying attitude, wings half spread. His wing span was approximately 4 feet, his feathering was absolutely perfect, and there did not appear to be any wounds on him that would cause death. This creature was so beautiful, with his eyes wide open, we were very concerned as to the cause of death. Particularly because one of us is a Santa Cruz resident, and the rest of us literally share the same airspace with such birds; we wanted to know if the cause of death was pesticide related, or connected to any other type of ecological condition. We carefully bagged the bird, and stopped at the Ano Nuevo park and spoke to a ranger there about the bird. He wanted us to leave it with him, so that it could be stuffed and placed in the soon-to-be-built Ano Nuevo museum. He was not very concerned with the cause of death, but this WAS a beautiful specimen. We ended up refrigerating (not freezing) the bird overnight, and taking him the next day to San Rafael, to a wild animal rescue operation. We did not have to have a necropsy or a toxicity report; the staff there immediately identified the cause of death. Evidently, this was an immature bird who had suffered a broken leg about one month before his death. He could no longer catch sufficient prey, and his keel and backbones were very prominent. He weighed about five pounds, and had died of starvation. The happy ending to the story is that another Great Horned Owl residing at the reserve with severe feather damage will be receiving feather grafts from Hooter to replace wing feathers. This is not as generous as we at the time thought; the reserve is interested in not sustaining the cost of an entire year of care for the live owl, until he can undergo a normal moult. With the feather graft, the live owl can be released sooner back to the wild. We wonder whether the graft will work, or if it will leave this live owl very vulnerable, and possibly shorten its lifespan? Does anyone know anything about such operations, and their rate of success? While we feel that we "did the right thing", I'm not so sure that this is not experimental, and more for the benefit of knowing about how grafting can work, and save boarding expenses, rather than to save the life of the owl. (The owl's life is not threatened by the feather damage as long as it is in captivity. A premature release, on the other hand, is quite dangerous.) Please comment. By the way, we were told that death by starvation is not at all unusual for these birds. How very sad. Elizabeth Dykstra
john@nmtsun.nmt.edu (John Shipman) (10/17/89)
Elizabeth A. Dykstra (ead@PacBell.COM) writes: +--- | ...[of finding a recently deceased Great Horned Owl]... | ...another Great Horned Owl...will be receiving feather | grafts...Does anyone know anything about such operations, | and their rate of success? +--- The replacement of damaged feathers is called ``imping,'' and has probably been done for hundreds of years. It is a standard technique in falconry. The term ``graft'' is probably not appropriate; that term, to me, implies some kind of regrowth. Imping is strictly a mechanical operation, and involves only dead tissue. Here is a reference from ``The Art of Falconry,'' by Wood and Fyfe, p. 426: The operation of ``imping'' (_imponere_), by means of which a broken feather is restored to its former usefulness, is important. The shaft of an injured quill should never be pulled out.... In imping, the injured feather is cut obliquely with a razor near its center so as to fit exactly part of a previously chosen plume...cut at the same angle. A small metal ``imping needle,'' first dipped in brine, is now carefully adjusted within the shafts of the fragments until a firm union is made of the two.... As I understand it, some wrapping and gluing may also be involved. A good imp should last until the next regular molt, and that will replace the whole works. -- John Shipman/Zoological Data Processing/Socorro, New Mexico USENET: ucbvax!unmvax!nmtsun!john CSNET: john@nmtsun.nmt.edu ``A lesson from past over-machined societies...the devices themselves condition the users to employ each other the way they employ machines.'' --Frank Herbert
king@cbnewsk.ATT.COM (joyce.l.king) (10/17/89)
In article <1812@pbhyg.PacBell.COM>, ead@PacBell.COM (Elizabeth A. Dykstra) writes: > I had an experience last weekend that I would like to share with the net. > > The happy ending to the story is that another Great Horned Owl residing at the > reserve with severe feather damage will be receiving feather grafts from Hooter > to replace wing feathers. This is not as generous as we at the time thought; > the reserve is interested in not sustaining the cost of an entire year of care > for the live owl, until he can undergo a normal moult. With the feather graft, > While we feel that we "did the right thing", I'm not so sure that this is not > experimental, and more for the benefit of knowing about how grafting can work, > and save boarding expenses, rather than to save the life of the owl. (The > > By the way, we were told that death by starvation is not at all unusual for > these birds. How very sad. Feather grafting is called "imping" (I'm not sure of the spelling). It is not experimental. They cut the shaft of the old feather and surgically glue the donor feather inside. The donor feather lasts until the molt, when the new feather comes in to replace the old shaft. Please understand that the cost of an entire year of care for the live owl is a very real problem. But most rehab centers would not release a bird until they were SURE it had a very good chance. They aren't in the business of rehabilitating birds and then letting them go off to die. Yes, starvation is a very real problem. Yesterday I fed a young peregrine falcon that was found sitting in the bushes, obviously starved and worn out from migration. Can you imagine the thrill I felt when it grabbed at the chicken meat in my tweezers? He's doing very well, and will be held for only as long as it takes to be sure he is well and can hunt. He seems to be in good shape otherwise...no broken bones. His beak is good and strong... witness the bandage on my thumb. I got careless. Starvation is our biggest problem at the Florida Keys Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center. We found out recently, at an oil spill readiness seminar in Orlando, that we have a much bigger problem with starvation than other Florida rehab centers. We are sure the reason is artificial water management in the Ever- glades that is causing the salinity of Florida Bay to go up and down like a yo-yo and killing off the small fish and crustaceans that grow up there. Man will limit his greed for wealth, or nature will limit it for him. I am convinced that these birds that are starving, in Florida and in California and everywhere else, are like the canaries that miners used to carry into the mines to detect deadly gases. They are an early warning system detecting a lack of food. We best heed the warning, or we are most certainly going to face starvation ourselves. Here I go on my soap box again. Joyce Andrews King (from the Florida Keys via modern communications)
rickf@callao.WV.TEK.COM (Rick Faltersack;685-2198;61-000) (10/18/89)
In article <1812@pbhyg.PacBell.COM> ead@PacBell.COM (Elizabeth A. Dykstra) writes: >I had an experience last weekend that I would like to share with the net. Interesting story, thanks. >By the way, we were told that death by starvation is not at all unusual for >these birds. How very sad. No, this is not sad. Just as it is not sad that bugs eat plants, and little fish eat bugs, and big fish eat little fish,... This is simply nature doing its checks and balances thing. (I'll bet there are some field mice that felt it was a quite) (wonderful event! ) -rcf-
leonard@isis.WV.TEK.COM (Leonard Bottleman) (10/18/89)
In article <1812@pbhyg.PacBell.COM> ead@PacBell (Elizabeth A. Dykstra) writes: >The happy ending to the story is that another Great Horned Owl residing at the >reserve with severe feather damage will be receiving feather grafts from Hooter >to replace wing feathers. This is not as generous as we at the time thought; >the reserve is interested in not sustaining the cost of an entire year of care >for the live owl, until he can undergo a normal moult. With the feather graft, >the live owl can be released sooner back to the wild. We wonder whether the >graft will work, or if it will leave this live owl very vulnerable, and >possibly shorten its lifespan? > >Does anyone know anything about such operations, and their rate of success? The process is not really "grafting", but "imping". The feather shafts are hollow, and the replacement feather is trimmed to match up with the broken feather still in place. The feathers are joined by hot-gluing a splint into both shafts. The repaired feather is almost as strong as the original, and will be replaced the next time the bird molts. Bird rehabing centers often have a catalogued supply of flight feathers for the different birds they work on (each feather is numbered by its position on the wings). This is an old, proven procedure: I learned about it in a wildlife rehabing course back in 1987. The reserve is not just concerned about the cost of keeping the bird for a full year, but also in improving its chance for survival in the wild. I worked as a volunteer at the Animal Care Center in the Washington Park Zoo, which rehabs the owls in the Portland area, for two years, and only a small percentage of the owls that we had to keep for an entire year survived (not an uncommon survival rate according to my rehab instructors). I suspect the reserve in question will make sure the owl's weight is up, that it can fly well, eat on its own, and perhaps make sure it can catch its own food before releasing it into the wild. Leonard Bottleman leonard@orca.WV.TEK.COM
bjb@ncrorl.Orlando.NCR.COM (Barbara Bowen) (10/18/89)
>The replacement of damaged feathers is called ``imping,'' I have performed this procedure several times in domestic birds. (Learned about the procedure thru the Audubon Society Bird of Prey Center.) It has helped clumsy fledgelings learn to fly after broken tail feathers were repaired. One may use a simple straight pin (with the head cut off) and "Super Glue". >John Shipman/Zoological Data Processing/Socorro, New Mexico Thanks, John, for reminding me. Hmmm, I can't remember what I've forgotten ... :-). ----------------------------------------------------------------------- EMAIL: barbara.bowen@Orlando.NCR.COM (...ncrlnk!ncrorl!bjb) "Bird-brain is a misnomer!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------
miken@hpdml93.HP.COM (Mike Nickerson) (10/18/89)
/ hpdml93:rec.birds / ead@PacBell.COM (Elizabeth A. Dykstra) / 7:08 pm Oct 16, 1989 / >The happy ending to the story is that another Great Horned Owl residing at the >reserve with severe feather damage will be receiving feather grafts from Hooter >to replace wing feathers. This is not as generous as we at the time thought; >the reserve is interested in not sustaining the cost of an entire year of care >for the live owl, until he can undergo a normal moult. With the feather graft, >the live owl can be released sooner back to the wild. We wonder whether the >graft will work, or if it will leave this live owl very vulnerable, and >possibly shorten its lifespan? > >Does anyone know anything about such operations, and their rate of success? >While we feel that we "did the right thing", I'm not so sure that this is not >experimental, and more for the benefit of knowing about how grafting can work, >and save boarding expenses, rather than to save the life of the owl. (The >owl's life is not threatened by the feather damage as long as it is in >captivity. A premature release, on the other hand, is quite dangerous.) > >Please comment. > >By the way, we were told that death by starvation is not at all unusual for >these birds. How very sad. > > >Elizabeth Dykstra >---------- My wife is a raptor rehabilitator and falconer. This technique is quite common with falconers in this area. We often get birds with broken feathers and repair them with new feathers before release. Falconers are allowed to keep feathers from their birds for this very purpose. It is illegal to posses feathers except for this purpose. The "operation" is actually rather simple. The bird is awake the whole time. We usually wrap the bird in a towel to keep it calm and still. We then cut the tip off a new feather so that the end matches what the bird broke off. A small piece of wood is placed in the hollow shaft of the feather and glued in place. We use "super-glue" (cyanoacrylate) because it is very strong and dries very quickly. Enough glue is used to ensure that the wood and feather are well bonded. The falconer's term for this process is "imping." The process is very effective. After gluing the feathers, we keep the birds a few days to ensure the glue joint is holding. We have had several birds that had feathers glued and were also kept through the moult. The tips were still glued to the feathers even after the feather was moulted. I would not worry about the process. It works very well. My wife has also used a modified technique on a prairie falcon she found which was starving to death. All the feather shafts were very weak and fragile. We placed a thin bead of super-glue on her primary wing and tail feathers in order to strengthen them. Her first year, she was held together with glue! She moulted perfectly her second year. It's good to see people caring about the birds. Mike Nickerson Hewlett-Packard Boise, ID