A red-shouldered hawk that was shot with a BB gun and suffered wing damage has been returned to the wild after months of rehabilitation in South Texas.
The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reports the bird was released Tuesday at Lake Corpus Christi State Park. It's the same area where the injured hawk was discovered in December.
The creature recuperated at the Texas State Aquarium as part of a Second Chances Rehabilitation Program.
Veterinarian David Stelling says the aquarium tries to release rehabilitated animals in areas as close to where they are found or in other suitable habitat.
Lake Corpus Christi State Park is in Mathis, about 100 miles southeast of San Antonio.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
