Raptor Center of Southeast Michigan

By Alysha Albrecht

Oh, the stories I have been meaning to share with you all! This spring and summer have been extremely eventful and memorable. Let’s start with a bird we call Dudley. A beautiful young red-tailed hawk came to us in early November 2021. Like many of our birds, he was found by the side of the road in Highland. When we did our initial exam we noticed he was missing his hallux talon, which is the most important talon used to hunt (it’s like our thumb) but surprisingly had no broken bones.

Due to the missing hallux, we had to make a tough decision and deemed this bird as non-releasable. So not long after he arrived the training began. He was an extremely smart bird and began training me as well. I worked with him each and every day, as much as I could, but I soon ran out of time as I started a new job just a few weeks before he arrived and we celebrated our son Harrison’s First Birthday in February.

Life was spinning by and Dudley needed to find a forever home. After a long wait and many conversations with wildlife center staff from all over the USA, we finally received the perfect match for Dudley! We knew this bird was extremely smart and a good candidate for free-flight training. He would also need to be worked with each day and hopefully a few times each day. Kim Turner of the Audubon Community Nature Center in Jamestown, NY was a match made in heaven. Dudley would soon be transferred to a brand new aviary and become one of three birds of prey on site, with daily training (training eventually would include flight) in his own enclosure. It was perfect! We started the permit process and began our travel box training for his long drive ahead. But as smart wild animals do, before we could transfer him, Dudley saw his opportunity to escape and took off from my glove with jesses and a leash on.

As much as Dody tried to tell me it comes with the territory of working with wild birds, the facts were clear as crystal. He could not hunt successfully with a missing hallux and he also had his hardware on. I did everything I could to keep him in sight that night, my husband and son helped, and our neighbors helped, but yet he got away from us. The next morning I went out before daybreak and found him on the top of a tall pine tree in front of someone’s house. A friend and I spent all morning with eyes on him, working from my car and watching him sit so peacefully in the treetops. But soon he got restless and flew away, from one tree to the next I had finally lost sight of him. It was heartbreaking. We had to find him if he was to survive. His new home, their staff, and future visitors were waiting for Dudley to teach them about red-tailed hawks, nature, and conservation.

That night I knew we had to get the word out, so I posted a photo and description of him on social media sites and asked the Bird Center of Michigan to share it on their platforms. I graciously had calls and texts all weekend long from residents who believed they spotted the bird. I went looking for him with friends and family. Dody and I searched as much as we could, but deep down I knew he would come back to us and he would be unharmed. The weekend passed and no Dudley. Monday was dragging on and I began losing hope that he was alive and well.

The next morning I received a call from a Wildlife Biologist from Detroit Metro Airport Authority. They had seen the post on the Bird Center’s Facebook and had Dudley! Plus he was safe!! It was a huge relief and I am forever grateful to the wildlife staff, especially Selena Creed for climbing on the biggest rig they had to untangle Dudley!!! Soon we were reunited and Dudely’s rehoming plans were back in the works. You may have seen the story in MLive and I must admit, this was not my best moment. It was, however, a great learning experience, and thank you to everyone who kept their eyes in the sky looking for him!

Fast forward to a chilly and windy weekend at the end of March, when Kim from the Audubon Community Nature Center drove over to Michigan to pick up Dudley and drive him safely to his new home. It was meant to be for them to be together and train together. I’m so thankful for the happy ending, but even more thankful that Dudley was on his way to being the best educational red-tailed on this side of the Rocky Mountains!

As I waved goodbye to Dudley, Dody was getting another red-tailed hawk ready for a release. Will, an adult, was found on the side of I-23. He was lifeless and had a swollen eye, but no broken bones. Dody nursed him back to health and was rewarded when he once again was a fierce red-tailed hawk! This was a great sign and after weeks of reconditioning, he was able to be released and live out the rest of his days in the wild. So the same day Dudley went to his new home, Will was released back into the wild in Milan! The release was quite spectacular! Will flew in a big circle around all of us and landed on the top of a huge tree. What a sight to see and a beautiful ending to a long journey.