Gray skies didn’t dim the color on the three intakes this week: two cardinals and an Eastern bluebird. It was also a nice break from the steady stream of raptors!
On the topic of raptors, Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends says the Christmas Eve bald eagle and New Year’s Eve red tailed hawk are doing well. The BE is starting to use his wing more as it continues to heal; the RT still has numerous human-caused issues to be resolved, not the least of which are nutritional deficiencies from a crap diet before he came to me and then was transferred to Steve. He’s got months to go before “release” is anywhere near being added to the vocabulary for him.
This past week saw just three intakes, one of which was a window-strike cardinal, female. Somehow she hit the window just right to quite literally rip her leg off at the ankle. It was barely still attached when her rescuer got her to me, and the blood loss from that injury and possible internal injuries resulted in her death as I was placing her in a box for transport home.
I had also netted another grounded male cardinal in my own yard, who turned out to have a severely damaged, infected beak. The infection had spread and created a pus pocket beneath his eye.
On the topic of raptors, Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends says the Christmas Eve bald eagle and New Year’s Eve red tailed hawk are doing well. The BE is starting to use his wing more as it continues to heal; the RT still has numerous human-caused issues to be resolved, not the least of which are nutritional deficiencies from a crap diet before he came to me and then was transferred to Steve. He’s got months to go before “release” is anywhere near being added to the vocabulary for him.
This past week saw just three intakes, one of which was a window-strike cardinal, female. Somehow she hit the window just right to quite literally rip her leg off at the ankle. It was barely still attached when her rescuer got her to me, and the blood loss from that injury and possible internal injuries resulted in her death as I was placing her in a box for transport home.
I had also netted another grounded male cardinal in my own yard, who turned out to have a severely damaged, infected beak. The infection had spread and created a pus pocket beneath his eye.
He also had only one foot: the other leg ended in a well-padded nub that indicated it was a congenital condition, i.e., he hatched that way. I wasn’t too worried about the nub, as he’d obviously never known differently and had survived quite well to this point.
The beak and infection, however, did worry me. While damaged beaks can regrow, the fact that infection had set in and was spreading meant his situation was serious, if not dire. Adding to my concern was the fact that he was very thin—eating with that damaged beak was difficult. (And if you’re wondering what caused the damage, my money’s on another cardinal. They fight at feeders, and I found a dead female beneath a feeder once with a cardinal-beak-sized hole in her skull. Those seed-cracking beaks are lethal weapons!) I gave him seeds but also started hand-feeding, along with antibiotics. Sadly, he didn’t survive the night.
When the call came from a lady who said she had a bluebird, I assumed she really meant blue jay. A lot of people use the terms interchangeably and inaccurately. To my delighted surprise, however, she was using the term accurately. She’d seen a grounded Eastern bluebird (EABB) in her yard; unfortunately, her dog got to him first but did no further damage that she could see. Still, he’d been in the dog’s mouth and needed antibiotics and a thorough exam to ensure there were no broken bones from the canine jaws.
When the call came from a lady who said she had a bluebird, I assumed she really meant blue jay. A lot of people use the terms interchangeably and inaccurately. To my delighted surprise, however, she was using the term accurately. She’d seen a grounded Eastern bluebird (EABB) in her yard; unfortunately, her dog got to him first but did no further damage that she could see. Still, he’d been in the dog’s mouth and needed antibiotics and a thorough exam to ensure there were no broken bones from the canine jaws.
While nothing appeared to be broken, the EABB did have a longish raw spot along the leading edge of his left wing, which accounted for the grounding, and his weight was down from the previous two nights of frigid cold we’d experienced. Birds drop weight quickly in cold weather, especially insectivores like EABBs.
Happily, both these conditions were easily treatable. A round of antibiotics would make sure the wing didn’t become infected, and I’m never without mealworms, a bluebird favorite.
This gorgeous, sweet little fellow is slated for release later this week, which pleases me to no end—as many of you know, EABBs are among my very favorite birds. Their gorgeous color, sweet voices and equally sweet temperaments make them thoroughly adorable. They’re even more precious to me because we came so close to losing them as a species in the early 20th century thanks to aggressive non-native cavity nesters such as starlings and house sparrows, to say nothing of human destruction of their natural habitat. Thanks to the development of nest boxes designed to keep out these two species and other predators, and to the efforts of bluebird enthusiasts in establishing bluebird trails (routes with well-maintained and closely-monitored EABB nest boxes), their population has rebounded.
LWR will be holding another all-day fundraiser at the Dublin, GA Ruby Tuesday on Thursday, January 23. Everybody eats out at least once or twice a month, so why not let your meal benefit LWR? All you need to do is click on the link below and print out the flyer, then take it with you to Ruby Tuesday and give it to your server on Jan. 23—easy, tasty, and helpful to LWR’s rehab efforts for 2014!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hoz2tjx5j3crh7p/lwr%20ruby%20tuesday%20fundraiser%20flyer.pdf
Because the Dec. 2013 and Jan. 2014 fundraisers were listed jointly, I won’t receive a final figure as to funds raised until after Jan. 23, so let’s make an all-out effort to make it a nice sum—baby season will be here before ya know it!
One final “housekeeping” note: next week’s update will be Monday night, Jan. 20.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hoz2tjx5j3crh7p/lwr%20ruby%20tuesday%20fundraiser%20flyer.pdf
Because the Dec. 2013 and Jan. 2014 fundraisers were listed jointly, I won’t receive a final figure as to funds raised until after Jan. 23, so let’s make an all-out effort to make it a nice sum—baby season will be here before ya know it!
One final “housekeeping” note: next week’s update will be Monday night, Jan. 20.
RSS Feed
