Special / Monteen McCord

Just rescued after the tornado, the tiny hawk suffered from a chest injury, and worse injuries were suspected.

Baby hawk survives Macon tornado, thanks to Georgia Power

By Lisa Frederick

Thursday, July 3, 2008 — One of the tiniest victims of the Mother's Day tornadoes that wreaked havoc this spring in Macon is alive and soaring thanks to a team of Georgia Power employees and a non-profit wildlife rescue organization.

His ability to stand, above, was a sign Georgia was not more seriously injured. Below, freedom awaits him in the background.

After months of rehab and plenty of TLC from Monteen McCord, founder and executive director of HawkTalk Inc., Georgia, the broad-wing hawk whose life began so precariously, has been released back into the wild.

Here's how Georgia's story began:

In the aftermath of tornadoes that rocked Macon and central Georgia in early May, more than 2,500 employees from throughout the area converged in the area to help clean up and restore power.

Bart Cater, an engineer in Georgia Power's Carrollton office, was part of the restoration effort. While walking a down line after the storm, he discovered the fragile little bird and its dead sibling near by.

He contacted Environmental Affairs for help, and it turned out they already had a team — Maria Souder, Rick Finch and Aaron Mitchell — in the area looking for possible downed transformers with oil leaks.

"Rick's a veteran in our department and he immediately contacted Jim Candler in Biological Services for permission to move the baby. He then retrieved the bird and placed it in a lunch sack until we could get back to the Carrollton Operating Headquarters," Souder said. "After finding a place that was willing to take it, I carried the hawk to rehab."

That's where McCord entered the story.

"He looked pretty pitiful when he first came in. He had a hole in his chest where a stick probably poked him when his nest collapsed," McCord said. "And a fly had deposited 33 eggs in there."

Despite strong concerns about the chest injury, Georgia gained strength and grew healthier each day.

"Thanks to the nice folks from Georgia Power for caring enough to get this baby to me. For these Georgia Power people to go to the trouble to find this little baby some help is the most heartwarming thing of all," McCord said. "I couldn't have done this without you!"

McCord said this had been a very difficult year for rehabbers due to all the severe weather the area has experienced. She estimates only a fraction of birds in Georgia's situation were saved.

Private non-profits such as HawkTalk have a tough time getting grants because they are not open to the public, she said, and wildlife charities in general have struggled to receive funding these past several years due to a variety of factors.

To learn more visit the HawkTalk site.

A maturing Georgia is ready for freedom.