Saker Falcon rescue by co-operation September 24, 2019
Portrait of Felix (photo: Gabriella Fekete). The story of Felix, the young Saker falcon began in mid-April. He and his two brothers hatched from their eggs in an artificial nest on a Pest County electric transmission line column, which is under CCTV surveillance as part of MAVIR Zrt.'s (Hungarian Electricity Transmission System Operator Limited Company) predatory bird monitoring programme. This way, those interested were able to keep track of the growing chicks.
Unfortunately, at dawn on May 22, a chick, named Felix by the Internet audience, fell out of the nest. Thanks to the camera and bird watchers watching the live broadcast, MAVIR's competent cable inspection staff were immediately alerted, and found the bird at the foot of the column. Although no trace of external injury was visible, it was to be expected that such a fall could hardly be sustained without damage.
The bird was taken over from a MAVIR staff member by a bird-protection specialist from the Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Association and immediately transported to the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Gardens. The head veterinarian of our Zoo, dr. Endre Sós, and his colleagues examined the bird and found that, unfortunately, Felix had broken both legs. This was a serious issue because if the broken bones do not mend correctly then the animal will not be able to use its legs properly, and these birds usually catch their prey with their feet.
Initially, there was some doubt whether Felix could really be released back into the wild, but veterinarians had X-rays of Felix: on the left and in the middle with broken legs, on abdominal-dorsal (VD) and side-to-side (LL) images, and on the right one an image taken during surgery by veterinarians to verify that the intramedullary nail securing the bones was in place; of course, they did everything they could do in such cases. The fractured tibia of the left leg was surgically fixed under anaesthesia, by using a so-called intramedullary nail. On the right foot, however, because of the nature of the fracture and because the bird's body would have hardly coped if both feet had a nail spacer at the same time, the veterinarians performed a conservative procedure, a fastening rail. Fortunately, the animal responded well to the treatment, and the fixture was removed under anaesthesia in early June. Of course, after that, he had to recover even longer.
Felix's release in the Dévaványa area: the fully recovered bird is released from the box by János Bagyura, Secretary of the Predatory Bird Conservation Section of MME (photo: Gábor Czifrák) A month later, in early July, Felix was so well that preparation for his release could began. This work was carried out by the experts of the Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Association and the Börzsöny Nature and Environment Public Benefit Foundation. The release finally took place on August 6th in the Dévaványa area, where many young Saker falcons are hunting, making it a suitable habitat for Felix. After the release, the bird flew with obvious confidence, so his rehabilitation was a complete success. It is no coincidence, however, that we did not report on this event back then, but almost a month later. The process is not yet complete with the release, as conservationists in the area continue to monitor the bird's progress after the release to see if he copes in all respects. Fortunately, the fate of the young Saker Falcon is still shaping up nicely.
By the way, the name Felix, originates in Latin, and means lucky. Although the fall out of the nest and breaking his leg were not a fortunate development, the fact that this rare bird of prey has finally recovered successfully is. Of course, this is not only due to luck, but to the dedication and expertise of the professionals involved in the rescue and, of course, to the cooperation of the organisations that consider bird protection important.
The Saker falcon (Falco cherrug) is a highly protected bird species in Hungary, with a notional value of HUF 1,000,000. The majority of historians and art historians believe that the legendary Turul may be originally identified with the Saker falcon, even though the creator of many well-known Turul statues chose the bearded eagle or the golden eagle as their model. In any case, the 50 forint coin, designed by István Kósa, as with the other coins in circulation, depicts the Saker falcon.
You can read more about rescue work at our Zoo here. How our staff deal with rescued animals may be seen by the public at our rescue exhibition centre, which opened last summer as part of the ZOO4NAT project funded by the European Union Regional Development Fund and supported by the Interreg V-A Slovakia-Hungary Cooperation Program.