A 21-year-old, suspected female captive ferruginous hawk (Buteo regalis) was followed for 3 years due to an iridial mass of the left eye (OS) that progressively increased in size. Enucleation of OS was eventually recommended due to the iridial mass taking up approximately 75% of the anterior chamber, and the bird seemed less active. A complete physical examination, complete blood cell count, biochemistry, and survey radiographs were performed pre-surgery with no findings indicating metastasis. A subconjunctival enucleation was performed and the globe was submitted for histopathology through the Comparative Ocular Pathology Lab of Wisconsin. The histopathologic evaluation determined the mass to be consistent with an iris melanocytoma, which has not been previously reported in this species. The patient recovered well from surgery and has remained comfortable and active for 117 days post-surgery. This case report aimed to review the current available information on avian ocular neoplasms as well as describe the clinical presentation, medical management and surgical procedure, and long-term follow-up for this patient to enhance clinical understanding of the behavior of iris melanocytic tumors in avian species.

Bird and bat turbine collision fatalities are a principal biodiversity impact at wind energy facilities. Raptors are a group at particular risk and often the focus of post-construction fatality monitoring programs. To estimate fatalities from detected carcasses requires correction for biases, including for carcasses that are removed or decompose before the following search. This is addressed through persistence trials, where carcasses are monitored until no longer detectable or the trial ends. Sourcing sufficient raptor carcasses for trials is challenging and surrogates that are typically used often have shorter persistence times than raptors. We collated information from raptor carcass persistence trials to evaluate consistencies between trials and assess the implications of using persistence values from other studies in wind facility fatality estimates. We compiled individual raptor carcass persistence times from published sources along with information on methods and location, estimated carcass persistence using GenEst and ran full fatality estimates using the carcass persistence estimates and mock datasets for other information. We compiled results from 22 trials from 17 sites across four terrestrial biomes, with trials lasting between 7 and 365 days and involving between 11 and 115 carcasses. Median carcass persistence was estimated at 420 days (90% confidence interval (CI) of 290 to 607 days) for the full dataset. Persistence time varied significantly between trials (trial-specific persistence estimates of 14 (5-42) days to 1,586 (816-3,084) days) but not between terrestrial biomes. We also found no significant relationship between either the number of carcasses in the trial or trial duration and estimated carcass persistence. Using a mock dataset with 12 observed fatalities, we estimated annual fatalities of 25 (16-33) or 26 (17-36) individuals using a 14- or 28-day search interval respectively using global dataset. When using trial-specific carcass persistence estimates and the same mock dataset, estimated annual fatalities ranged from 22 (14-30) to 37 (21-63) individuals for a 14-day search interval, and from 22 (15-31) to 47 (26-84) individuals for a 28-day search interval. The different raptor carcass persistence rates between trials translated to small effects on fatality estimates when using recommended search frequencies, since persistence rates were generally much longer than the search interval. When threatened raptor species, or raptors of particular concern to stakeholders are present, and no site-specific carcass persistence estimates are available, projects should use the lowest median carcass persistence estimate from this study to provide precautionary estimates of fatalities. At sites without threatened species, or where the risk of collision to raptors is low, the global median carcass persistence estimate from this review could be used to provide a plausible estimate for annual raptor fatalities.

Worldwide use of anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) for rodents control has frequently led to secondary poisoning of non-target animals, especially raptors. In spite of the occurrence of many incidents of primary or secondary AR-exposure and poisoning of non-target animals, these incidents have been reported only for individual countries, and there has been no comprehensive worldwide study or review. Furthermore, the AR exposure pathway in raptors has not yet been clearly identified. The aim of this review is therefore to comprehensively analyze the global incidence of primary and secondary AR-exposure in non-target animals, and to explore the exposure pathways. We reviewed the published literature, which reported AR residues in the non-target animals between 1998 and 2015, indicated that various raptor species had over 60% AR- detection rate and have a risk of AR poisoning. According to several papers studied on diets of raptor species, although rodents are the most common diets of raptors, some raptor species prey mainly on non-rodents. Therefore, preying on targeted rodents does not necessarily explain all causes of secondary AR-exposure of raptors. Since AR residue-detection was also reported in non-target mammals, birds, reptiles and invertebrates, which are the dominant prey of some raptors, AR residues in these animals, as well as in target rodents, could be the exposure source of ARs to raptors.

Sixteen cases of cloacal prolapse in raptors were reviewed in this study. Colonic prolapse was the most common presentation (56% of cases). Red-tailed hawks ( Buteo jamaicensis ) were overrepresented, comprising 66% of colonic prolapse cases. In cases of colonic prolapse, postsurgical stricture formation was a commonly identified complication after resection and anastomosis of the colon. A novel technique was used in 2 cases of colonic prolapse, in which sterile, semirigid rubber tubing was placed in the distal colon and removed per-cloaca at the end of the procedure; this facilitated a secure, fluid-tight anastomosis while maintaining sufficient intestinal lumen. Oviductal prolapse (31% of cases) was associated with the most guarded prognosis (40% treatment success). Cloacoliths were treated successfully in 2 birds (13% of cases) by minimally invasive per-cloacal manual removal.