Aurelia

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

This Red-tailed Hawk was admitted in July of 2022 to RMRP as a first year raptor. She suffered from a broken humerus (upper arm bone) close to the shoulder, and a broken left leg. After healing from her trauma, she received physical therapy and laser-light therapy to help her recover. Her fractures healed very nicely, and she was put through thorough flight conditioning and testing. She can fly fairly well, but lacks the ability to get lift, and would never be able to soar. She was deemed non-releasable and began training as an Educational Ambassador in January of 2023.

She has really thrived as an Educational Ambassador, and made her debut to the public in the fall of 2023. She is a gorgeous Red-tailed Hawk that has many attributes of two different subspecies of Red-tailed Hawk. One of the subspecies is known as a Krider’s Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis kriderii), and the other is the Eastern Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis borealis). Both of these subspecies are heavily studied, and we cannot at this time attribute Aurelia to a single subspecies. Regardless, she has a very distinctive patterning and coloration for a Red-tailed Hawk.

Her name Aurelia means “the golden one” after her unique pale coloring.

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