‘Barbaric’: Protected red-tailed hawk may never fly again after wings illegally clipped in Paxton

PAXTON, Mass. — Local police, along with state and federal wildlife authorities, are looking into an apparent case of animal cruelty involving a protected adult red-tailed hawk discovered in a Paxton backyard Thursday night.

The hawk’s wing and tail feathers were so severely clipped, experts fear the bird may never fly again.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Jessica Zorge, president and founder of Raptor Tales Rescue in Shrewsbury. “They were totally gone. The feathers had been cut almost all the way to where they connect to the bone... And the tail is completely missing.”

Zorge is now caring for the hawk, which she’s affectionally named Edward. She called the bird’s injuries “completely barbaric.”

“It’s scared, it’s stressed, and it has no idea what’s going on or that we’re trying to help it,” Zorge told Boston 25 News.

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The hawk was spotted standing on a pile of wood in a backyard. The homeowner realized something was wrong when the bird failed to fly off after several hours, Zorge said.

Zorge estimates it will take two to two-and-a-half years for Edward to fully molt and regrow his feathers, if they grow back at all.

“It could be life altering,” she said. “We don’t know if the follicles were damaged.”

Despite the extreme damage to its wings, Zorge says Edward appears to be in good health. She suspects somebody may have trapped the hawk and tried to make it a pet, which is illegal. Red-tailed hawks, like other raptors, are protected by federal laws.

Given the hawk was unable to fly, Zorge suspects whoever clipped its wings may not live far from where the bird was found. She says law enforcement is on the case.

“Under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the fines can be anywhere from a few hundred dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Zorge says. “I would hope the maximum would be given.”

‘Barbaric’: Protected red-tailed hawk may never fly again after wings illegally clipped in Paxton (Raptor Tails Rescue)

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