Flying high: At WSU, ‘seahawks’ get second chances

With the Super Bowl set for Sunday, Seahawks fans will be hoping the team is flying high once again. At Washington State University, helping feathered "seahawks" take flight is something the Veterinary Teaching Hospital knows well.

WSU's Exotics and Wildlife team regularly treats ospreys, often called seahawks. Over the past 10 years, the hospital has cared for 45 of the birds. Historically, ospreys have had a low release rate because many arrive in critical condition, with injuries ranging from fractures and fishing line entanglements to toxicity and electrocution. Even so, last year was a good one: the hospital successfully released three Ospreys back into the wild. The team also treats many other raptors, both wild and captive, including the Seattle Seahawks' live mascot, Taima.

In 2023, Dr. Marcie Logsdon, an avian specialist and certified wildlife rehabilitator, led a procedure on the augur hawk, who flies across the stadium at Seahawks games, removing a benign growth from his foot and clearing him to return to the field.

Thanks to WSU's Exotics and Wildlife team, Taima - an augur hawk who flies across the stadium at Seahawks games - had a growth removed and was cleared to return to the football field.

But for Logsdon, it is often the wild cases that leave the biggest impression. One that still stands out began at Sacheen Lake, Washington, when an osprey chick fell from its nest after a windstorm and could not be returned.

The chick arrived at WSU with no fractures or obvious injuries, but it needed supportive care and feeding while the team worked to find it a new home. The best foster nests were in Idaho, which meant coordinating permits to move the bird across state lines. Once the chick was healthy, Logsdon and her colleagues, working with Avista and a bucket truck, carefully placed it into a wild foster nest.

"We have to make sure the baby is healthy and that we are not overloading the natural parents," Logsdon said. "Raptors are very good about caring for extra babies as long as they are the right age and in the right place."

Watching that placement succeed is one of the best parts of her job, she said. "While we can raise orphans in captivity, they miss out on important life lessons. You just can't do better than mom."

While the Seahawks chase another Super Bowl moment on Sunday, the WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital will keep doing its quieter work, making sure real seahawks get their own chance to fly again.

Wildlife care and support

WSU operates one of the only 24-houremergency services for wildlife rehabilitation in Washington east of the Cascades. Private donations are instrumental in helping care for the 500 injured or orphaned wildlife typically brought to its Wildlife Rehabilitation Center from throughout the Pacific Northwest every year.