One of my newest projects is caring for a sick bird. And not just any bird, a osprey. Its like a hawk but better! It has four toes but one of them can do a 180 degree turn. Its "thumb" can be used just as good either backward or forward.

This bird was found hopping on someone's grass lawn. She is not normally even seen by people this close but allows us to handle her. I have not idea what is wrong but we're asking around. There are just so few vets here who know much about this type of bird.

She is amazing! Her wings, from tip to tip, measure 56 inches. Her talions/claws, if she was to use them, can easily dig into any flesh in amazing speeds of less than a fraction of a second. Those talions are over an inch long! She also has more muscle on her legs than most birds of prey.

She is a hunter, being able to dive into salt or fresh water and grab a fish (up to two feet long) and fly away with it. The Lord made them smarter than the average bird. They know that if you aim the caught fish's head forward while flying, it will be easier to carry.

We named her Sky.

As to whether we can keep her nor not, no one knows. Even the Department of Agriculture doesn't know and they are the ones that approve things like this.

So for now she is my project, though a dangerous one.

I mentioned that she is not well. Physically, she is fine (we had vets look at her) but she isn't acting on her instincts. She will not hunt, fly, or eat by herself. To feed her, I cut up raw fish and chicken to push down her throat so she will swallow it. Otherwise, she won't eat for days.

We tried to teach/help/encourage her to fly yesterday but she just glidded 50-100 feet before doing nose plants or hitting a fence. She is an odd bird!

Someone is always with me in the cage but still pray for my safety.

If we can keep her, she will be a great addition to our petting farm.