What sort of health problems do raptors face?
Health problems are surprisingly similar for birds and people. Their circulation gets worse as they age, and they can suffer from cataracts and arthritis. When young, inexperienced hawks may fly into things, just like kids learning to ride a bike. If the hawk is going too fast to turn, just as you might on your bike, it will run into something to stop. In captivity birds have foot problems because they are sitting so much. A new threat for raptors is the West Nile Virus carried by mosquitoes. At Warner Nature Center our birds live outdoors so we have put up special insect netting to keep their living area as mosquito free as possible.
