Hawk shot with BB gun makes full recovery, released back into wild after surgery

A red-shouldered hawk that was shot with a BB gun and left unable to fly has been released back into the wild after 10 weeks of rehabilitation, the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA said.

The bird was reportedly found in late July sitting on a picnic table in a San Jose park, wounded and struggling to move. It was taken to the PHS/SPCA’s wildlife intake center in San Jose and later transferred to the organization’s new Wildlife Care Center in Saratoga, where veterinarians discovered a BB lodged in the hawk’s head and signs of lead poisoning.