Red-tailed hawk struck on Saturday by a semi-trailer released after help from good Samaritans, firefighters, OSP and animal rescue groups

A year-old female red-tailed hawk, injured after flying into the front of a semi-trailer on Interstate 5 Saturday, was released to freedom Tuesday morning by a few of the good Samaritans who offered her a helping hand.

Jackson County Fire District 5 Engineer Albaro Gonzalez and Capt. Andy Buckingham grinned as they pried open the cardboard box behind the fire station along Highway 99.

Both men, who showed up on their day off to help with the release, leapt backwards to give the bird of prey a wide berth as she burst from the box and immediately soared toward a nearby orchard.

It was a far cry from their last encounter with the bird. A disoriented hawk showed up wrapped in a thick sweatshirt Saturday after some local landscapers scooped her up after witnessing her crash into the air guard on the front of the semi.

A pitstop at nearby county animal control offices, Buckingham said, resulted in a “nope” from county officials. The nearby fire station was the next best bet.

“Captain Bolstad and Al (Gonzalez) and I were on duty, and we’d just got back from a call. … They had just witnessed it happen and picked up the bird to try to help,” Buckingham said.

“We get animals from time to time — the cat-in-a-tree is inevitable for firefighters — but I think this was our first hawk. We were like, ‘What do we do with this bird?’ So we took it and started making some phone calls.”

A series of phone calls yielded guidance from Badger Run in Klamath Falls, and an Oregon State Police game trooper soon arrived to assess the hawk.

“Initially we let it go here, just to kind of assess the extent of the injuries. It immediately, kind of like, shook its wings off, but then it didn’t move. It just stood on the lawn here for probably an hour,” Buckingham said.

“We FaceTimed with Badger Run and they put us in touch with OSP, who showed up pretty quickly, checked her out and took her to Wildlife Images. … She got her bell rung pretty hard.”

After a few days at the Merlin-based animal rescue, the bird’s injuries — bruised lungs, superficial eye injuries and other abrasions — had been mostly remedied with anti-inflammatory meds and R&R.

Buckingham called Monday to check on the bird and was invited to retrieve her for release back where she was found. 

“I’ve never had this close of an encounter, so it was pretty amazing. When they said, ‘You can come pick her up,’ I thought, ‘Yeah, I’m definitely gonna do that,’” Buckingham said.

Gonzalez smiled at the released hawk, resting in a nearby “snag,” a tree burned by the Almeda Fire in 2020. Getting a chance to help local wildlife or domestic animals, he said, is always a bright spot for firefighters. A kitten was dropped off at the station Monday, he said, and animals show on calls or are dropped at a fire station.

Fire District 3, a partner district for the Phoenix-Talent based district, rescued a barn owl last week. The bird’s talons were stuck between two wooden boards. The same district made headlines during fire season last year for helping a wayward sheep.

“That’s one of the best things about this job,” Gonzalez said. “From people to animals. … You never know what you’re gonna get.”

Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 458-488-2029 or buffy.pollock@rv-times.com. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal.