‘Too Fat To Fly’! Hawk's Chicken-Eating Spree Leaves It Unable To Take Flight, Experts Baffled

A red-shouldered hawk in Virginia was found unable to fly and taken to a local wildlife center. Experts examined the bird for injuries but discovered she was simply too overweight to take flight, weighing over 910 grams. The hawk had been continuously feasting on local free-range chickens.

Imagine being a bird of prey but becoming too overweight to fly! That's exactly what happened to a female hawk in Virginia, US, whose love for free-range chickens landed her in an unusual situation. After feasting on easy prey for weeks and spending hours sleeping between meals, the bird became so heavy that taking flight was no longer possible.

The adult red-shouldered hawk, identified as RSHA 26-2599, was discovered sitting helplessly in a residential driveway, about a mile from the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke. Concerned that something was wrong, the person who found her brought her to the centre for examination.

Wildlife experts initially suspected an injury or an underlying medical condition. They checked for broken bones, lead toxicity, eye problems, head trauma, bruising and other possible complications. Surprisingly, none of these explained why the bird could not fly.

Check the viral post here: 

The real reason, however, was quite unexpected. The hawk weighed more than 910 grams and had accumulated such a thick layer of body fat that experts could barely feel her keel bone.

"The diagnosis: At over 910g in weight, she was too darn fat to fly! We couldn't even palpate her keel due to the heavy layer of fat covering it," the wildlife centre revealed in a social media post.

But how did a predator end up in such a predicament? A conversation with local residents provided the missing clue. Free-roaming chickens in the neighbourhood had reportedly been disappearing over several weeks.

The centre explained: "This queen was picking off the buffet of easy prey set out before her, eating her fill, and then snoozing in the trees nearby until she was ready to eat again."

The bizarre story quickly caught attention online, with one user commenting, "The diagnosis 'Fat' has sent me."

While the incident may sound amusing, experts warned that a grounded hawk faces serious danger from larger predators. The centre also reminded people against feeding wildlife and urged them to protect domestic animals from becoming easy meals.