Injured peregrine falcon 'off like a rocket' after recovery, rescuer says

It was the start of a miserable, snowy April day — but Arcturus the peregrine falcon couldn't believe his luck.

Following nearly a month in captivity, the bird was finally released back into the wild after being nursed back to health. He was found injured in Winnipeg near the end of March.

First thing Monday morning, the bird's rescuers carefully put the box holding him in a field at FortWhyte Alive and opened the door. They watched from a distance as the falcon took a few steps out and looked around.

"It was like [he was] going, 'Is this a joke? Do I get to go now? Is this for real?" Tracy Maconachie, project co-ordinator for Manitoba's Peregrine Falcon Recovery Project, told CBC's Up to Speed host Faith Fundal.

"And then he [was] just off like a rocket."

Arcturus was first spotted on March 19 near the Radisson Hotel in downtown Winnipeg, Maconachie said.

The next day, a small, unbanded male bird was found injured in the same area and brought into the Prairie Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre.

"The chances of it not being the same bird … [are] pretty slim at that time of the year," she said.

Arcturus had no injuries on his wings — a good sign, Maconachie said — but there was some blood in his mouth, which suggested he had been in a collision. 

He also had a sore foot, which presented another concern since peregrine falcons use their feet to pull food apart and feed themselves. 

And for some time, he refused to even try to do that, Maconachie said.

"That probably was just him being obstinate about being in care," she said. "Some birds just won't co-operate, and the rehabbers needed to be sure that he could use both feet to feed himself."

Rescuers raced against the clock to get Arcturus healthy enough to be released back into the wild.

The falcon was getting agitated, trying to escape from his enclosures so much that staff worried he would hurt himself if they kept him much longer.

They also knew that if Arcturus wasn't ready to go before the arrival of this week's stormy winter weather, his release would probably be delayed by at least a week.

Finally, he started eating regularly enough that the people taking care of him felt confident he would survive on his own, Maconachie said.

Rehabilitators put a band on him so they would recognize him if he came in again. And they gave him a name they hoped would help him find his way: Arcturus, a navigational star.

And as she stood in the field that morning watching the falcon take flight, Maconachie said she was filled with a familiar feeling.

"It's always the same kind of hopeful enthusiasm to say, 'Please just get well so we can let you go and you can do what you do best, which is be a peregrine,'" she said.

"It would be nice to see what he does. It would be nice to see how he [raises] his young, see how his kids will do."