Winnipeg-born peregrine falcon hurt in Dallas hail storm

An endangered falcon born on the ledge of a downtown Winnipeg building is recovering in Texas after getting caught in a hail stormlast week.

Beatrix the peregrine falcon was found lying on the pavement at an intersection on U.S. Highway75 in Dallas after a nasty storm blew through the city, killing a few birds at the local zoo. She was rescuedand taken to the Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, where she is being cared for by wildlife officials.

Tracy Maconachie,co-ordinator of the Peregrine Falcon Recovery Project (PFRP), heard the news of Beatrix'sunexpected layover in Texaslast Thursday.

She's a great mom. You try to band her chicks and she tries to take your head off.- TracyMaconachie

"We have lots of falcon fans around the world and somebody made mention of it on one of these [online] forums," Maconachie said. "I called down to Texas and introduced myself and said, 'You've got one of my birds down there.'"

Beatrix hatched atop the Radisson Hotel in the summer of 2011. CBC Manitoba viewers watched her grow from an awkward little puffball into a full-feathered avian predator that summer and voted in favour of naming her after Beatrix Potter, the famed naturalist and children's literature author of The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

It was at that time that she was fitted with an anklet containing a unique serial number wildlife rehabilitation folks in Dallas used to trace her back to Winnipeg.

Peregrines like Beatrix tend to rely on a healthy diet of pigeons and northern flickers (a woodpecker species) in Manitoba, among other birds,according to thePFRP.

Beatrix came in to the centre at agood weight and is eating well, from what Maconachie has heard.While shehas no obvious signs of injury, officials in Dallas have noted Beatrix is having vision issues.

"It seems as though she's had some kind of bonk ... but she's been getting better," Maconachie said.

The bird has yet to see a veterinarian, but Maconachie hopes an appointment in the next few days should answer the question of whetherBeatrix is fit to fly and can finish her 2,100-kilometretrip from Dallas to Winnipeg.

Kathy Rogers with the Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre hopes to release Beatrix back into the wild if possible. If she fails her vision test, Rogers is considering flying with herhome on a plane.

"She may still make it back. It's still early days,"Maconachiesaid, adding peregrine falcons tend to show up in Manitoba near the end of March.

Beatrixnested west of theWinnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport last year.Maconachieis still hopingto see the five-year-oldbird of prey take up residence in the same place again this summer and start afamily.

"She's a great mom. You try to band her chicks and she tries to take your head off she's got all of the things you want in a peregrine falcon."

Follow@mbperegrines for regular updates about peregrine falcons nesting in Winnipeg this summer.