Saturday, December 10, 2016

Black Vulture "Elvira"


"Elvira" the Black Vulture arrived on our property just over one year ago and was emaciated and very distressed.  She was thousands of miles away from her home range of South America and Southeastern US.  To make a long story short, we captured her about a week later at another property down the road....(click on the link at the bottom of this post for the full interview)

We brought her home and made a temporary house for her while we waited for Hope for Wildlife to arrive.  We fed her a little bit of meat, and yes, that is our dinner plate beside her - it was black to match her beautiful feathers!!

The next morning, staff members from the wildlife shelter made the 8 hour return trip and brought Elvira back to their facility where they fed and housed her for the winter!! They are truly amazing!!  Once word quickly got out that Elvira was ''in the house'', she soon became a bit of a celebrity and had thousands of people wish her well on their social media outlets.  Hope, in her 20 years of wildlife and rehab work, has never had a Black Vulture patient in her care.

This past spring, after she was all fattened up and practiced her flying skills inside the flight cage, Elvira was given the green light to be released back into nature!! Hope for Wildlife and her team released Elvira nearby at a bird sanctuary where she had the best possible chance to find her way back south during the bird migration! The Black Vulture is mostly seen in large groups, and although Elvira was alone at the time of her release, her breed is also known to hang out with Turkey Vultures, which we hope she found a few at the bird sanctuary to migrate back south with.

We know you are soaring high Elvira!! Thank you Hope for Wildlife for everything that you did for Elvira's stay with you and for all that you continue to do for all of the furry and feathered friends that need you!!

Click on this link to see the interview with Elvira:

Elvira made new news and was interviewed a couple of times and also appeared in an episode on Hope for Wildlife TV