A white heron first spotted last summer with a blow gun dart through its body is finally flying free. Rehabilitators at the Florida Keys Wild Bird Center are crediting a local marine mammal facility for capturing the elusive bird to provide the necessary care.
Bayleigh MacHaffie, assistant director and rehabilitation manager, recalls a phone call on Aug. 7 from a man who witnessed a white heron with what initially appeared to be a spear through its chest. Pictures sent to MacHaffie confirmed an object impaled the bird’s body. The man who spotted the heron, however, was unable to approach the bird.
Miraculously, the heron wasn’t fazed as it remained fully flighted. Bird rehabbers later learned that the heron was hit by a blow gun dart.
“It was incredible the fact that he was flying,” MacHaffie said.
Months followed and more calls came into the Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center in Tavernier regarding the heron by residents between MM 96 and MM 98. Some spotted the bird at Buttonwood Bay.
“He was hanging out in the water and would come up when people were fishing,” MacHaffie said. “They couldn’t get close enough. He was otherwise healthy and was flying around and was eating OK.”
Bird rehabbers went out hoping to spot the bird and administer care. But like many others, they couldn’t get close to the heron. At that point, bird rehabilitators instructed people spotting the bird to monitor for signs of sluggishness.
Eventually, calls regarding the heron stopped. MacHaffie said they assumed either something happened to the heron or he left the area. But a few weeks ago, calls came in spotting the heron with a dart through its chest — this time at Dolphins Plus Marine Mammal Responder in Key Largo.
Staff members at the dolphin facility spent weeks trying to contain the bird. Leading the effort was Jacky Orkiz, marine mammal trainer who’s had experience working with birds. She said they first noticed him several weeks ago and believed the wound was fresh.
“He kept hanging around us more and more. We joked that it seemed like he was looking for help because he was getting more comfortable with us,” she said. “He was getting closer to our lagoons. He started hanging outside our fish kitchen area.”
Orkiz said the heron kept returning. Overnight security said when everyone left for the day, the heron would hang out in an outdoor hallway near the fish kitchen. Orkiz said they slowly closed off the area. One morning, she was preparing fish when they spotted the heron. She managed to close off the hallway enough to safely restrained him.
“He was like ‘OK, you got me.’ He was actually very calm,” she said. “We had a spare crate nearby. He didn’t fight much at all. He kind of accepted that was going to happen. We played a long, slow game of just kind of hanging around and not quickly jumping at him to scare him away.”
Jordan Budnik, executive director at the Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center, expressed her gratitude to Orkiz and the DPMMR team for their rescue efforts.
“More than anything, we are so grateful to Jacky for caring enough to take the initiative in capturing this bird. We could not have done it without her.”
Upon the heron’s arrival, MacHaffie was astonished at the bird’s health.
“He was at a really good weight. He was standing. He was alert. Of course, he had this blow gun dart through his chest,” she said. “But it wasn’t infected nor actively bleeding. It was very old at this point.”
An X-ray found the dart didn’t hit any bones or major muscles, but it was located a couple centimeters near his collarbone. And it could have done damage, MacHaffie said.
“That’s a long healing process. He would not have been able to fly,” she said.
The blow gun dart arrow was completely rubbing against the heron’s wing. But the bird maneuvered its wing with no problem and no further injury. MacHaffie said the blow gun dart was pretty loose in the heron’s body. Bird rehabbers were able to snip the top of the dart and pull it out of the bird with no problems.
“Myself and our rehabbers, we were thinking it was going to probably be euthanasia when we were first hearing about him because you have a great white heron with what looks like a spear through his chest,” MacHaffie said. “We assumed there was some damage.”
MacHaffie said a report was filed with Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. She hopes it wasn’t an intentional act, but more a “wrong place at the wrong time situation.” Jason Rafter, public information officer with FWC, said anyone with information regarding the white heron can call the Marathon field office at 305-289-2320.
As for the heron, MacHaffie said he passed his flight test. Now, he’s blending in with the rest of the birds.
“He’s doing what he needs to do and he’s living his life,” she said.
Orkiz said the heron’s still flying by the facility.
“It’s kind of cool,” she said.
