'South Island falcon taxi': Team effort saves the life of injured bird

A falcon found seriously injured on a Canterbury highway was saved by a team of “bird taxi” drivers who rushed it to a wildlife hospital hundreds of kilometres away.

The battered kārearea/New Zealand falcon is lucky to be alive after Tekapo woman Emilie Marinissen picked it up from State Highway 8, near Lake McGregor, a week ago.

Marinissen rang the Department of Conservation hotline to find out what she could do to help. What followed was a “whole of South Island falcon taxi” as multiple drivers pitched in to get the bird to the Kārearea Falcon Trust in Blenheim, which had an opening in their breeding programme and could offer a long-term home.

DOC says Marinissen did exactly the right thing, keeping the injured falcon calm in a dark box while she waited for DOC staff to collect it.

“I was worried about the kārearea as it was clearly not well, and his eye was badly damaged,” Marinissen said.

DOC principal ranger Dean Nelson said the falcon could have been clipped by a car or injured itself while hunting or looking for an easy meal of carrion on the road.

“This is where the 'falcon taxi' started as we rang two people who we knew were driving down to Twizel from Christchurch for a meeting on the kakī/black stilts. They were able to pick the injured bird and bring it here," Nelson said.

“I then phoned our local vet. He’s Australian and has had a lot of experience with raptors. He assessed its eye and wings and advised it needed specialist help at the wildlife hospital in Dunedin.”

DOC staff then drove the kārearea to Dunedin, where staff determined it had a minor dislocation in its shoulder – an integral part of the bird’s anatomy, essential for supporting its wings.

“The worst damage was to its left eye,” Nelson said.

“The vet’s advice was it would be risky for it to be released back into the wild as they only hunt with their eyes and it probably wouldn’t survive.”

A home was found at the Blenheim-based Kārearea Falcon Trust which rehabilitates injured birds and had a place in its’ breeding programme.

Nelson then put out the word to out to South Island DOC staff for a “bird taxi” to transport the kārearea from Dunedin northward.

“It really was like passing the parcel getting it to Timaru first and then transferring it over to Holly Turner who is the Manager of the Kārearea Trust for the next leg to Blenheim,” he says.

Turner said the kārearea has settled in well and will receive ongoing treatment for his damaged eye until a final vet assessment.

“Once we’re confident his eye is stable, we hope to pair him up with one of our females,” Turner said. 

The trust has produced 87 chicks since its breeding programme began in 2013 and as well as caring for injured kārearea, they help boost wild populations of the falcon, classed as being at risk/nationally endangered.

Nelson says he’s very touched at the collective effort to save the injured kārearea.

“From the local vet to the drivers who took the bird to Dunedin and then north and then of course Emilie from Tekapo - that’s 'community naturing' caring for our native species. Now this lucky bird hopefully has a bright future.” 

-Allied Media