Protected Hawk Found Injured On Long Island, Rescued By Officers

On-duty officers from Long Island made a feathered friend when they rescued an injured bird that used to be on the endangered species list.

The injured osprey was discovered by police officers and transported to a local wildlife rehabilitation center.
Photo Credit: *Nassau County Police Department*

Sophie Grieser

07/21/2024 4:00 p.m.

At about 9 a.m. on Thursday, July 11, Nassau County Police Officers Carlson, Locher, and Gervasio were on the job in East Rockaway when they came across something unusual.

The three officers found the injured osprey in a parking lot near Harbor Road.

After contacting the state’s Department of Conservation and moving the bird out of the roadway, they were able to get in touch with a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, who transported the osprey to the nonprofit organization Wildlife in Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation for treatment of its leg injury.

Once healed, the center will release the feathered friend back into the wild.

Ospreys can be found on every continent except Antarctica. In New York, there are two main osprey breeding populations — one in the Adirondacks and another on Long Island.

In the 1950s, the species was put on the endangered species list after chemical pollutants hampered reproduction. Their status has since been downgraded to “Special Concern.”

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