Prineville OSP trooper arranges a rescue for the (baby) birds

Pahlisch Homes crew builds a quick house (as in nesting box)

PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) – This isn’t your typical rescue story. In fact, it’s for the birds -- to be more precise, three baby red-tailed hawks that a recent windstorm apparently blew out of their nest at a ranch near Prineville, and how an Oregon State Police trooper and others stepped up (a tree) to help them out.

OSP Fish & Wildlife Senior Trooper Scott Vaughn, based in Prineville, received a report on June 1 of three very young red-tailed hawks apparently blown from their nest. Ross Lockhart, assistant manager of Quail Valley Ranch, found the young hawks on the ranch, southeast of Prineville, and contacted Vaughn, according to OSP’s Facebook posting Friday.

Not knowing exactly what was needed to give the birds their best chance of survival, Vaughn contacted Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists, who in turn contacted area raptor rehabilitators, including Gary Landers of Wild Things Raptor Rehabilitation, who said the young hawks needed to be elevated off the ground.

While headed to the ranch, Vaughn drove past a construction site and stopped to ask about getting assistance with creating a nesting box, troopers said. Without hesitation, troopers said, the Pahlisch Homes crew got to work, using nail guns and boards to fabricate the needed box, also providing fasteners to attach it to the tree where the birds’ nest likely was dislodged.

While the parent hawks circled overhead, Vaughn was able to attach the nesting box to the tree and placed the young ho within them. A short time after the box was placed in the tree, the parent hawks were seen landing in the same tree, OSP said.

On Tuesday, Vaughn paid a visit back to the area “and was pleaded to observe the red-tailed hawks still using the fabricated nesting box,” the posting said, concluding by offering a “huge THANKS to all involved.