An endangered Cooper’s Hawk was released back into the wild Wednesday morning, nearly two weeks after being rescued from a downtown Wilmington street.
On Dec. 27, bird enthusiast Ben Galvacky found the injured hawk hopping, not flying, out of the way of traffic in front of Womble Carlyle law firm at 222 Delaware Avenue, according to wildlife conservationist group Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research.
Galvacky, who works at the law firm, and some co-workers cared for the raptor -- which they named Frank for the law firm's boss -- until Tri-State rescuers arrived.
Over the next 10 days, the experts at Tri-State say they nursed Frank back to health. It turns out the Cooper’s Hawk is on the state's Endangered Species list.
At 10 a.m. on Wednesday at Bellevue State Park on Carr Road in Wilmington, Frank returned back into the wild. The once injured hawk extended his wings and flew off into the sky as soon as he was set free.
"They're a beautiful bird, basically," Galvacky told NBC10. "To save these creatures it's phenomenal, just seeing them it's really incredible."
