Baby hawks jumped out of nests to escape extreme Pacific Northwest heat, rescuers say

An extreme heat wave gripping the Pacific Northwest in late June spawned a “hawkpocalypse” as baby hawks and other young raptors leapt from their nests, rescue groups say.

“They had no choice,” Lynn Tompkins of Blue Mountain Wildlife in Oregon told The Oregonian. “It was just too bloody hot to survive.”

Some of the rescued birds had to be euthanized because of broken bones or other injuries after plummeting from their nests, The Washington Post reported. Raptors typically nest in treetops.

High temperatures broke records across Oregon, Washington and British Columbia in late June, killing hundreds of people, USA Today reported.

The extreme heat also inundated wildlife rescues with young raptors that had jumped from their nests to try to escape deadly temperatures.

“Our ICU has never been so full,” the OWL Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society of British Columbia wrote on Twitter. The rescue reported taking in 15-20 raptors a day in the heat wave.

Blue Mountain Wildlife took in 118 young hawks at its Pendleton, Oregon, center and 70 at its Tri-Cities, Washington, center in the first week of July, a blog post said.

“Usually, rehabbers make a difference for one bird at a time,” volunteer Trisha Marquez told The Oregonian. “Overall, we can have an impact, but this is a whole generation of a species of bird.”

High temperatures in Northern California also sent a deluge of fallen baby raptors to Shasta Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation in Redding, The Washington Post reported.

“I think these events really are wake-up calls,” Bob Sallinger, director of conservation at Portland Audubon, told the publication. “That climate change is here, that the impacts are becoming more and more visible.”

This story was originally published July 18, 2021 at 2:36 PM with the headline "Baby hawks jumped out of nests to escape extreme Pacific Northwest heat, rescuers say."