My name is Angela Beltrani and I am a graduate student at Antioch University New England in Keene, New Hampshire. Before returning to school to pursue a master’s degree in Conservation Biology, I worked with birds of prey in New York and Alaska, both as a rehabilitator and an educator. During that time, I observed three cases of a previously undescribed disorder affecting juvenile Great Horned Owls that have long remained in my heart and in my head. I always knew that I had to find out more about this devastating illness.

     Toward this end, I am focusing my thesis research on discovering if and/or how often raptor rehabilitators and nature centers have admitted fledgling owls of any species to their facilities with a certain set of symptoms. All three owls I cared for were very young (recently out of the nest) and were completely blind when brought in due to the presence of a white film or “cloudiness” in both eyes (diagnosed as cataracts). After a week or two, they all developed neurologic symptoms, including head rolling, a loss of balance, and an inability to stand or perch. All were euthanized.

     You are all a great, untapped source of information on the illnesses and injuries that are affecting the birds of prey in the United States. Please share your knowledge and experiences with me to help shed some light on this disorder. Click on the link to the right entitled “Thesis Survey” to access a series of questions about your owl patients, and any other raptors that may have presented with similar symptoms, over the past several years. You will need to have JavaScript and Cookies enabled on your computer to complete the survey.  Feel free to leave feedback for me on this blog, especially if you would prefer a hard copy of the survey or if you have any questions or comments on the survey. And, feel free to forward a link to this page to any other raptor people you may know!

     Thank you for participating. I look forward to hearing from all of you!

 

Sincerely,

Angela Beltrani

P.S. Please participate in the survey whether you have observed the described disorder or not.  Also, it is very important that you continue through to the very end of the survey and enter in your contact information.  All the information you can provide will be useful in my study!

**NOTE:  If you have any trouble with the survey, please contact me for assistance.  Mac users may need to access the survey through FireFox for best results.