Laurens Wildlife Rescue
  • Home
  • I found a wild baby - what do I do?
  • How can I help?
  • Contact us
  • FAQ
  • This week in wildlife

"Baby boom"

5/10/2012

4 Comments

 
Yep, that’s what LWR has at the moment, with 13 songbirds coming in yesterday and today. Three separate nests of them…

These babies, whose species is still uncertain, came in after a feral cat wandered into the rescuer’s yard and knocked the nest out of a tree. The rescuer, a young girl, saved five of the six nestlings from the cat but fed them watered-down milk overnight. Once again, folks, birds don’t have boobs—they cannot digest milk properly! Luckily, these babies seem to be doing well so far, although you can still see bits of dried milk on their little faces. The stuff sticks to their skin like glue; I’m flaking it off bit by bit to avoid ripping skin off with it. Their begging cry sounds familiar, but I can’t quite place it. I know what they’re NOT: they’re not mockers or robins or bluebirds or any of the other birds I commonly see in rehab this time of year. By next week, as the feathers come in, we should be able to identify these wee ones. In the meantime, the guessing games are an endless source of amusement and bemusement.

Picture
These house finches were almost ready to fledge when their nest was found in a tractor trailer that was headed to Parts North.  Finches are sweet little birds but can be stubborn about eating at this age. Fortunately, the little runt, last hatched and smaller than his sibs, is a rabble rouser—when he starts begging for food, no one wants to be left out!

Picture
Today people at a local business pulled a twig from the grille of one of their delivery trucks that hadn’t been used in a while, and this nest of Carolina wrens fell out. The nest was pretty much destroyed, and the business needed the truck, so they called LWR within an hour of finding the wrens.

Picture
I had just mentioned to a fellow rehabber the morning this influx started that I felt like I was walking around with my shoulders hunched, waiting for the blow, and sure enough, the “baby boom” began!

The mocker has been released but is still coming down for supplemental feedings. While he can be irritating at times as he sits 20 feet above me begging for food, it doesn’t take him long to figure out that he’s gotta come closer if he wants anything from me.

Picture
Picture
This sweet juvenile mourning dove came in after being attacked by a cat. Fortunately, the wound was minor and a short course of antibiotics ensured no infection set in from the cat saliva. As I’ve mentioned before, cat saliva is designed to break down flesh, so antibiotics are a necessity for any wildlife rescued from cats.

Picture
The best solution if you don’t want your cats killing birds is to keep your cats indoors. I have cats, and because I love my cats and my birds, the cats stay inside. They’re safer and healthier, and the birds around my yard have one less source of predation to worry about. Cats can decimate a songbird population, folks. I can’t stress it enough: Cats belong inside!!

The dove has also been released—no shots of the release, as she took off like a shot as soon as I offered her the option. I didn’t even have time to attempt to focus the camera on her!

Picture
We’re still not quite sure what was going on with this great blue heron (GBH). He came in because the people who found him thought his wing was broken, but an exam by Shelley Baumann of Smalley’s Animal Hospital proved otherwise. 

Picture
After a couple of days’ R&R at the LWR bed and breakfast—and more fish than any one bird should legally be allowed to consume—he was also released. I’ve had other GBHs come in in the past who also seemed to just need a few days of regular meals and were then good to go.

Picture
He was amazingly tolerant of being handled but was quick to disappear upon release. I did manage one fairly good shot of him before he left, though.

Picture
Beaver Butt continues to find new ways to be a brat; his latest is to knock his water dish over, resulting in minor flooding in his storage tub “den”, which I’m lining with puppy pads to absorb most of the spillage. This shot is in front of the rehab tub as he awaits his swim. Note the towel, because he’s also figured out how to get out of the tub on his own and leave a trail of water all down the hallway as he waddles out, sopping wet, in search of me.

Picture
He’s also beginning to slap the water with his tail when he’s swimming. I’ve yet to actually witness this, but I hear it and find the watery evidence on my floor. The stubborn little snot refuses to do it while I’m watching, camera at the ready.

Picture
And finally, one of those instances where I’m delighted to be proven wrong. Some of you may remember the female Eastern bluebird who came into LWR in February of this year. If you’ll recall, I posted a photo of her wing x-ray, showing a jumbled mess of broken bones between the shoulder and the elbow. It was our considered opinion that she’d never fly again, and I’d been waiting to see how she might pan out as an educational bird, but she adamantly refused to trust me…

Yesterday while I was cleaning her cage, she flew out. Wait—read that again. Never mind, I’ll repeat it. SHE FLEW OUT. She then proceeded to fly all around the rehab area. It wasn’t pretty flight, but a) she wasn’t supposed to ever fly again and b) she’d been confined for three months on the assumption that she was nonflighted.

Today she went into the flight pen, where she’s happily flitting about in short bursts as she regains her stamina. Once she’s had sufficient time to build her strength back up, I’ll be releasing her. Sometimes being proven wrong puts the biggest grin on your face…

Picture
Picture
4 Comments
Ann Feldman
5/12/2012 03:16:27 am

Dying to know what that first group of birds are! Be ironic if they were Starlings or HOSPs. I recently bought "Birding By Ear" on the advice of Rob Jett, a local bird blogger. Trouble is so relaxing to hear that I fall asleep!

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue link
5/12/2012 03:41:27 am

LOL, Ann--definitely not starlings or HOSPs; those are pretty distinctive birds, even as hatchlings/nestlings. Nope, these are smallish and the gape actually looks swallowish/swiftish...Last night I was convinced they were barn swallows, until I remembered the gape was the wrong color. Still leaning toward one of the aerial eaters based on beak configuration, though. We'll see!

Reply
Olivia
6/24/2014 12:44:49 am

What did the first group of birds end up being? They look like this baby bird I found alone on the sidewalk. I don't think it seemed to be injured, but I didn't really get a good look at it. I thought it had been abandoned or fallen out of a nest..so I picked it up to take it home and hopefully to a rescue center..but when it cried the mama bird came after me. I was too busy running and screaming to get a good look at her after I sat the baby down gently in the grass. She was pretty big, but then again so was the baby.

Laurens Wildlife Rescue
6/24/2014 01:05:45 am

Olivia, they were barn swallows. Any time you see unfeathered babies out of the nest, they're in trouble. If you can't find the nest, you need to get the bird to a licensed rehabber immediately. Whatever bird you saw wasn't a barn swallow, as they're small birds.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    May 2008
    April 2008

    Categories

    All
    Baby Birds
    Baby Deer
    Baby Opossums
    Baby Possums
    Baby Rabbits
    Bluegray Gnatcatchers
    Carolina Wren
    Common Loons
    Epd
    Fawns
    House Finch
    Mbta
    Migratory Bird Treaty Act
    Mockers
    Mockingbirds
    Orphaned Birds
    Orphaned Deer
    Orphaned Fawns
    Orphaned Opossums
    Orphaned Possums
    Orphaned Rabbits
    Orphaned Wildlife
    Squirrels
    Wildlife
    Wood Ducks

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.