Countywide : Injured Bird Delays Flights at Airport

A rare, federally protected falcon held up several considerably larger “birds” Thursday morning at John Wayne Airport.

In the airport’s first case of flights delayed by fowl, an America West Boeing 757 jet and other aircraft were prevented from taking off for several minutes while airport workers rescued an injured, fluttering female American kestrel falcon that parked itself on the main runway, said Joe Fowler, manager of the Federal Aviation Administration’s control tower at the airport.

The falcon is considered to be native to the area. Although it is not listed as an endangered species, it is protected under federal law.

Someone reported seeing the injured bird and reported it to Brian Winget, an air traffic controller, who spotted it with his binoculars and decided to stop all air traffic, Fowler said.

“We’ve had quite a few pigeons wiped out by planes, but to my knowledge this was the first time we’ve ever had a bird of prey hurt at the airport,” Fowler said. “We were concerned it might be an endangered species or something. . . . That’s why we wanted to get it some help.”

The injured brown and gray falcon was taken to the El Toro Animal Hospital where Dr. Scott Weldy found it had a joint injury on the end of its wing, as well as a small bone fracture. Weldy, a specialist in the care of birds of prey, said the injury to the wing joint was potentially life-threatening.

American kestrel falcons are about the size of a robin, Weldy said. They weigh about a quarter of a pound. He said the birds are common in Southern California and feed on lizards, mice, small birds and insects.

Fowler called the incident “kind of unusual.”

“Had the controller not seen the bird out there,” he said, “the big jet would have rolled over it and wiped it out.”