Well done, everyone. I've used Capstar to remove fly larvae in Crows and GHO as well as opossums. I understand why you're hesitant to "let nature take it's course" on these wild kids...but as a rehabber who understands the power of social media as well as the love of hawks, I get why you opted to intervene. I'm so glad you did.
@@colecolettecole flies are drawn to leftover prey, such as squirrel parts, chipmunk parts (even tiny ones). Those flies lay eggs on the leftovers, which hatch into maggots. Maggots look for dark/damp environments to survive. The inside of a bird's ears or nares (nostrils) is a perfect environment for them to thrive in.
Maggots do it because they can. Old long-haired dogs that are outside a lot are also at risk. Keep their behinds trimmed and clean, especially at this time of year.
@@snlself Since birds are carefull to poop to the outside of the nest from a young age, you would think that the parents would be more hygienic in cleaning out the leftover carcasses, and why not eat the fly larvae also? Grubs and worms are a staple of many species. Would wild birds have been able to kill the larvae with these insecticidal greens? So much to learn….
Wow, I am very thankful to the person who noticed the issue and the medical team, support team. I am also thankful that Big Red didn't hurt anyone Blessings to all!
These beautiful and amazing birds have real-life guardian angels. Thanks to our Cornell Hawks community, the vets, and the very brave people who went up to the nest to retrieve and return the chicks. What a joy!!
A huge Thank you to all involved in examining and treating these precious young Red Tailed Hawks! Big Red and Arthur are such good parents! I liked Dr Radcliffe's thouhts on what Big Red and Arthur were thinking. Thank you for all that you do for these majestic Red Tailed Hawks! 🌷💞
Wow, amazing video. We’ve all been waiting for this one. IMMENSE GRATITUDE to the hawk-eyed babynurse1 and keys, and every other person involved from the ground crew, to the vets, to the bogs. These are some very lucky little big birdies.
I do applaud the person who knew that there was something wrong with the Hawklets and felt that the Vet team needed to come and help. MAN!! I’m so very pleased it’s the team for going to the nest and helping out the Hawklets and it looked like mom and dad knew that the babies were being helped and the concern I had was that the two adult Hawks wouldn’t come back to the nest after the Vet team was there but I think the adult Hawks knew the Hawklets were getting help.❤️🙏👏🏻👏🏻. You humans are super awesome and very much appreciated.🙏👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻. There aren’t too manyEagles nest people go to the nest to help babies Eaglets when it is needed except for SWFL Eagles. Now these Hawklets have a definite fighting chance to live and fledge when it’s time. God bless you all so much and the person who saw the problem too. You all have my utmost respect. Hugs love and blessings to you humans and to this Hawk family too. Sue M. (Clearwater, Florida)👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🙏❤️🥰👍🏻👍🏻🌟🫶🏻❌⭕️❌⭕️
Thank you so much for this intervention as in past years there have been cases where a lack of intervention ended sadly, but the fantastic coordination amongst all involved, the speed with which the vets worked on the chicks and the great footage by Cornell and Karel are very much appreciated. Thank you so much yet again. I'm sure the chicks are saying thank you too!
🦜you know, no expert here but I did wonder why one of them seemed tired and not interested in eating much. Thank you volunteer's and those who treated the problem.
Well done to all! With how well your team was able to get the Ms out I am sure both Big Red and Arthur know they were in good hands. How nice of Arthur to bring in a meal for them when they returned!
Imagine the wonderful tales these young hawks will have to tell about the time they were abducted by aliens... Many thanks to everyone for the excellent observance, quick action, and superb video!
I would definitely agree BR has been bringing in more greenery this year and it's interesting to think it could very possibly be for nest hygiene. Such a great nest and experience to observe. Thank you Cornell Hawk Nest Cam ops, BOG's and Vets!
Great job volunteers notice this issue. You probably saved those babies alot of misery or their lives. Thanks to all ,vets that helped them in such a timely manner.
All of you involved in this intervention are Angels. You are Angels!! You are the real Angels. You protect and preserve life, you heal these beautiful creatures. I just love all of you. 😭
Thank you Cornell for taking care of these beautiful hawks . This is my fourth year watching them everyday and it would be a dream come true to do what you all do. Thank you team. 😊😊❤
Oh wow! I mostly only watch during the work week, so I completely missed all the drama last Sunday! I'm glad the intervention worked out and turned out to be a good idea, and that the birds are healthy!
My great grandkids are asking - What caused flies to lay eggs in the young raptors' ears? Are rotting carcasses in the nest a contributing factor? Is maggots in their ears an isolated issue or regular occurrence?
i don’t believe the flies actually laid in the hawks ears, they likely laid eggs on any leftover prey and when the maggots hatch they move and find a wet dark place to thrive, the ears of a nearby bird definitely check both requirements (anyone please feel free to correct me if i’m wrong about anything!)
As for how the flies got there, it'll depend on what kind of flies they were, but the eggs can be laid directly in the ear, or it's possible that a maggot crawled in. Either way, it's a dark moist place that the larvae like.
Will you explain why they ended up with maggots in their ears? Is it because of the carrion in the nest? I'm wondering if you treated the nest with anything before putting the kids back...
They treated the birds to prevent re-infection and mentioned Big Red has been cleaning up carcasses (likely the source of parasites - an eaten squirrel's parasites will be dealt with by stomach acid, but leftovers may have wigglies urgently looking for a new home in) and bringing leaves that parasites don't like, that's probably as much intervention as is safe and ethical. Spraying down the nest or similar would risk dosing the birds' insides with poisons as they moved about on it and breathed it in, possibly giving them new problems down the line and weakening their chances of survival in the critical first year.
As for how the flies got there, it'll depend on what kind of flies they were, but the eggs can be laid directly in the ear, or it's possible that a maggot crawled in. Either way, it's a dark moist place that the larvae like. We don't know the species at this point but hope to learn more from working with entomology here at Cornell. Each of the maggots was around 1-1.5cm long, pale white, probably ~3mm in diameter cross-section. Some studies suggest that 100% of nests in this area have blowfly presence.
could someone explain why this was happening? i saw many nests over afew years now but i never ever saw or hear that hawklets got maggots in there ear. Here it was all 3 having it! Thats sound pretty uncommon to me. Last year the same nest had not one hawklets with that issuse. Oh and i would like to know how big were the maggots, how long they were there? what kind of maggots? and so on.
As for how the flies got there, it'll depend on what kind of flies they were, but the eggs can be laid directly in the ear, or it's possible that a maggot crawled in. Either way, it's a dark moist place that the larvae like. We don't know the species at this point but hope to learn more from working with entomology here at Cornell. Each of the maggots was around 1-1.5cm long, pale white, probably ~3mm in diameter cross-section. Some studies suggest that 100% of nests in this area have blowfly presence.
Aww thank you so much for protecting and keeping these little red beauties healthy! Hopefully Big Red doesn’t have anything in her ears. Will any of these parasites be in the nest between the wigs? Hope not. Maybe they want to clean the nest and add new twigs when they fly off for the summer. ❤❤❤❤❤
Those hawk parents know how to pick good real estate. Free view of all the games! Better than TV for the kids. Thanks for doing this great work for the birds. The nest should be dusted off with some diatomaceous earth which will kill the bugs and is non toxic for the birds. Use food grade. Maybe some sulfur powder too or special spray? Wildlife has such a tough time to survive. They need all the help we can give. Mostly habitat loss to humans.
This is why it is so important to give donations to the Cornell Cams. without the cams and extra eyes watching them. The outcome would have been different.
Thank you so much for helping them. I always thought there wouldn't be rescues unless the problem was man-made but this is great! I must not have checked the cam that day as I never saw them missing.
We made the decision to intervene based on the recommendations from wildlife vets and the availability of the right resources in the right time window to intervene safely and with a minimum of risk to the chicks.
As for how the flies got there, it'll depend on what kind of flies they were, but the eggs can be laid directly in the ear, or it's possible that a maggot crawled in. Either way, it's a dark moist place that the larvae like. We don't know the species at this point but hope to learn more from working with entomology here at Cornell. Each of the maggots was around 1-1.5cm long, pale white, probably ~3mm in diameter cross-section. Some studies suggest that 100% of nests in this area have blowfly presence. Once the chicks' ears are feathered (which they just about are), they are no longer at risk.
As for how the flies got there, it'll depend on what kind of flies they were, but the eggs can be laid directly in the ear, or it's possible that a maggot crawled in.
What an amazing bunch of people. I'm sorry if I missed it, but were there any more maggots in the nest? We're you able to clean some of it out without disturbing the nest? Or is that something the momma will naturally do throughout this process?
The nest wasn't overflowing with maggots-As for how the flies got there, it'll depend on what kind of flies they were, but the eggs can be laid directly in the ear, or it's possible that a maggot crawled in. Some studies have suggested that 100% of red-tailed nests in this area are affected by blowflies.
I have noticed over the years of watching birds that come to my yard that they take beak fulls of certain herbs that I consider insecticidal. I always figured they knew which to take but I don't know how they know. Just thought it a magical moment.
OMG! This is awful! Thank you to the Dr., his crew, the volunteers, and everyone else involved in diagnosing and treating these beautiful hawklets.👏👏👏❤️❤️❤️. It's wonderful that they were treated and returned to the nest. This is all new to me, so I have questions. Was the prey that was brought in infested with maggots?
Thanks so much helping these guys get back to health. I love watching them go from eggs to young to fly freely in the air. The process is fascinating, watching how they come into their own. Read an "Immense World" by Ed Yong. An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us is a 2022 book by Ed Yong that examines animal senses.
