Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Madden, Alta (Nov 19/01) - A turkey vulture found in Fort McPherson earlier this month is recuperating well from its Arctic misadventure.

"He's eating really well," said wildlife biologist Dianne Wittner, with Rockyview Wildlife Recovery Centre in Madden, Alta. "He'll probably be back to normal body weight in two or three weeks."

Wildlife officer David Harry was taking care of this wayward turkey vulture in Inuvik Nov. 8. - Malcolm Gorrill/NNSL photo

When it was captured Nov. 7, the bird was hungry, cold and several thousand kilometres north of its normal range. At this time of year, most of its kin would already have migrated to subtropical wintering grounds in the southern United States and Mexico.

Despite having spent several weeks in the freezing cold, the bird had no injuries, other than being half-starved.

Wittner says it's anyone's guess how the bird got stranded this far north.

"We've been operating for nine years and this is the first vulture we've ever had. When there's a sighting around Calgary, it goes on the birder bulletin, so they're not very common. They're more common closer to the (U.S.) border."

Sometimes baby birds are found in strange places when their mothers nest on transport trucks or railway cars, Wittner says. And sometimes inexperienced juvenile birds just get lost. But this bird is at least two years old. "So it's not like it's a stupid juvenile that doesn't know any better."

According to Inuvik wildlife officer David Harry, the bird was sighted around Aklavik in the summer. Then last week, a resident of Fort McPherson found the it on his porch getting bullied by ravens.

The man gave the bird to wildlife officer Johnnie Charlie, who drove it to Tsiigehtchic, where another wildlife officer picked it up to take to Inuvik.

After a visit to the veterinarian and a meal of snowshoe hares, the bird caught a lift to Alberta courtesy of Canadian North.

Since arriving in Madden Nov. 9, the bird has become somewhat of a local celebrity, appearing on television and newspapers in Calgary.

Several people have already volunteered to drive the bird three hours to the U.S. border, where it will be released when it's well enough to fly south.

"The volunteers are just thrilled to have something this novel to work on," Wittner says.

The Rockyview Wildlife Recovery Centre is a non-profit wildlife hospital that treats about 1,400 animals a year.