Y/5's role in helping Victory

I teased last update that Y/5, the Canadian female falcon that spent several winters at the Rhodes Tower, might have a role in helping Victory. Since her death in 2005, I have kept the carcass in our district freezer for possible education use in the future. Ironically, it has worked out that some of Y/5's wing feathers have been donated to be used in the imping process for Victory!

Because of Victory's large size, other donor feathers that were initially obtained just weren't long enough. Remembering that Y/5 was a large female and with both birds being in captivity we knew they were of similar weight. With luck, the feathers were a match and so far 2 feathers have been imped, with 3 still needing to be done. Victory is currently under observation to see if she is flying better with intact feathers but it is still too soon to know if she will be releasable.

In antipication of if/when Victory is releasable, I've been getting a few "what-if" questions about Scout's presence in the territory. In the next update I will explain some of the scenarios.

Here are pictures of the unused donor feathers and Dr. Don Burton of the Ohio Wildlife Center checking Victory's vitals prior to the imping process.