Jana Teefy, a Lakeland College second-year wildlife and fisheries conservation (WFC) student, flew into action when she received news that a bird needed rescuing.

Ryan Pearce, a Lakeland College environmental sciences instructor, and Jana Teefy, a wildlife and fisheries conservation student, with the rescued Rough-legged Hawk.

On Nov. 17, the retrieval request came from WFC alumna Alyssa Metro, who works for the Alberta Society for Injured Birds of Prey. She connected with Ryan Pearce, Lakeland environmental sciences instructor, however he wasn't available and recommended Teefy.

“After receiving the call about the injured bird I knew that Jana, who took my ornithology class, had experience safely handling birds from volunteering at the Beaver Hills Bird Observatory. She is also a volunteer at Wild North and has experience handling, caring for and transporting large birds.  Additionally, she has worked with wildlife during a previous career as an animal health technician so I was comfortable asking Jana to go rescue the hawk and putting her in contact with Alyssa,” says Pearce.

With Pearce's help, Teefy connected with Metro to coordinate the rescue southwest of Vermilion, as well as Caleb Corcoran, who works at the Strathcona Raptor Shelter, to organize the bird's transfer.

“I remember the snow was past my knees, so it was difficult to circle the bird. I was trying to come up behind it. It was trying to be intimidating with its wings spread and opening its mouth. When I got close enough, the first thing I did was grab its legs because if you have a leg, you have the bird. While all of my previous experience helped me in retrieving the hawk, my experience in Ryan's class helped me properly ID it as a rough-legged hawk,” Teefy explains.

The underside of the rough-legged hawks' wings have a dark patch or markings that are key identifiers, as well as long and narrow broad wings and wingtips that are broad and often swept back slightly. Teefy says she was excited to use her ornithology skills from class in a real rescue opportunity.

Teefy deposited the hawk in a bin she brought and took it home for the night. She explains it remained active throughout the night, proving to be in relatively good health aside from not being able to fly, and into the next day when she handed off the hawk to a volunteer from the Raptor Shelter.

Though Teefy doesn't know the hawk's current medical status, she did use her animal health technician skills to evaluate the hawk while in her care, noting, “I did look for injuries, and I couldn't find anything obvious. I could tell it was holding one wing a little funny, so I guessed it had some wing strain, but nothing was broken.”

Career migration

Jana Teefy, a Lakeland College wildlife and fisheries conservation student, handles a rescued Rough-legged Hawk.

Through the Beaver Hills Bird Observatory, Teefy prompted and participated in a conference call with two of their biologists to identify the age and sex of the hawk. “We figured out that it was an adult female by its moult patterns.

“Overall, it was a cool experience. I want to be an ornithologist and work in research and bird conservation. I put all of my training into practice during this experience, which is exactly the type of work I want to do,” Teefy says.

Teefy's interest in wildlife conservation piqued after she started volunteering at the Beaver Hills Bird Observatory in 2019. She was hired on as summer staff in 2021 when she gained the majority of her bird handling experience. Teefy says she's excited to return to the observatory to work next year.

“My volunteer experience inspired me to come back to school, so to go back to work for them is a dream. Lakeland provided me with the experience I needed.”

Read more about Teefy's experience during environmental sciences field week.

Submitted photos: Top-Ryan Pearce, a Lakeland College environmental sciences instructor, and Jana Teefy, a wildlife and fisheries conservation student, with the rescued rough-legged hawk. Bottom-Teefy handles the rescued hawk.