An injured red-tailed hawk slowed traffic on the Merritt Parkway southbound near Exit 37 at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, New Canaan police say.
The bird—a small hawk, according to Animal Control Officer Maryann Kleinschmitt—was found in the roadway itself, suffering with a missing eye and broken wing. A Connecticut State Police trooper had contacted Kleinschmitt’s unit for assistance in removing the animal.
Red-tailed Hawk (Author: Mike's Birds. Uploaded by Magnus Manske/Wikimedia Commons)
“It was on the highway and they were concerned that people trying to avoid the bird would create a problem, so I went and picked up the bird,” Kleinschmitt said.
Sadly, the hawk died from its injuries within the hour, as Kleinschmitt was bringing it to a veterinarian who specializes in birds, she said.
“The poor thing,” Kleinschmitt said.
“When a hawk misses one of its eyes, even if they could fix the wing, he’s never going to be able to fly, see well enough to be able to get food and survive on his own,” she added.
It’s unusual this time of year for New Canaan’s animal control unit to get a call about an injured hawk, Kleinschmitt said. Such calls are far more common in July, August and September, she said.
And those calls frequently are about hawks flying into or being struck by motor vehicles, she said.
“I don’t really understand why, because they have such good vision,” Kleinschmitt said. “I guess they dive down and they’re focused on their pray and not anything else, and they hit cars.”