Jack, a red-tailed hawk, sits patiently in his cage, waiting for warm weather and his release back into the wild.

He is just one of the many birds in the care of Ames’ Wildlife Care Clinic.

Jack was brought into the clinic about five weeks ago with a broken wing. His stay at the clinic has included surgery, time to heal and rehabilitation.

A bird admitted with a broken wing is not a new sight to the staff of the Wildlife Care Clinic, located in the College of Veterinary Medicine.

The clinic cares for a variety of injured and sick animals, including tundra swans, pelicans, coyotes and deer. However, the majority of the wildlife admitted to the clinic are small birds and mammals, said Heather Reynolds, student staff member and sophomore in animal ecology.

“The clinic takes in all wild animals except for raccoons — in case they have rabies — and skunks for, well, obvious reasons,” she said.

The animals are usually brought to the clinic by the Department of Natural Resources, County Conservation and by people who have hit them with their car or have found them injured, Reynolds said.

According to the center’s Web site, www.wcc.vetmed.iastate.edu/

index.htm, about 75 percent of animals admitted to the clinic are injured as a result of human activity, such as car collisions, hunting and trapping incidents and run-ins with abandoned fishing line and wire fencing.

Deb Schumaker, student staff member and junior in animal ecology, said most injuries seen at the clinic involve animals getting hit by motor vehicles. Schumaker said many hawks and owls hunt for their prey in the short grass ditches along roadways. Mice and other small vermin typically come to these areas to retrieve garbage and litter such as apple cores thrown out by passers-by, she said.

The hawks then swoop down for their prey “and don’t pay attention to what is coming,” Schumaker said.

Other injured wildlife at the clinic include a pelican that was shot, a burned tree sparrow that flew into a wood stove and several bats that were woken up from hibernation said Jessa Franck, junior in animal ecology.

“Many times, bats hibernate in people’s attics,” she said. “When there is a lot of noise made, they wake up and fly around the attic.”

Many newborn animals are also brought into the clinic because people believe they are abandoned and need to be cared for, Franck said. But many of the animals brought in are not orphaned and would be able to survive on their own, she said.

“Most of the time, once [the animals] are able to open their eyes, they can survive on their own,” Franck said. “Sometimes it is better to leave wildlife alone.”

When an animal is first brought in to the clinic, a general examination is administered, Schumaker said.

A radiograph is often taken to check for infections, fractures and other internal damage. If needed, surgery can then performed.

Staff members also evaluate the animal for any neurological damage or shock. Open wounds are cleaned out and the animal is given antibiotics.

The clinic then houses and tends to the animals until they are nursed back to health and ready to return to the wild.

When birds are injured, the rehabilitation process often involves more than simply waiting for them to heal, Schumaker said.

If a bird is admitted with a broken wing, a pin is placed in its wing so the wing is able to heal properly. After two to four weeks, an X-ray is administered to observe the healing process. If the fracture has healed, the pin is taken out and the bird is placed in an outdoor cage to rest and become reacclimated with the outdoors.

After the wing has been given two more weeks to rest, the bird begins to practice flying again. The bird is attached to a creance, a harness that straps on the legs of the bird and connects the bird and the staff member with a string, Reynolds said.

This flight practice takes place every day for about two weeks or until the bird has built up enough muscle strength to be released back into the wild, Schumaker said.

“We have to make sure they are strong enough to fly, protect themselves and hunt, otherwise they have no chance out there,” said Dr. Mary Ann Nieves, interim director of the Wildlife Care Clinic and professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Once the animals are ready to be released, the clinic waits for fair weather.

“If it is a bad winter, we won’t [release them],” Schumaker said. “We sometimes release in the early winter when there is no snow and it is still warm.”

She said holding off the release increases survival rates of the birds. If the animals are released during a cold winter, they may have trouble finding nourishment and shelter.

Releases usually take place where the animals are able to reenter their natural habitat easily.