Baby season, and then some

It was a busy week at LWR, as baby season kicks into high gear and the injured adults keep arriving, as well…
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This nestling Eastern screech owl was found three days before it was brought to LWR, and fed worms the entire time. While screeches can and do occasionally eat frogs, crickets, and even worms, their main diet is rodents and small songbirds—and given his young age, these are the foods his parents would have been providing, to ensure he got the vitamins and minerals needed for healthy bone growth. He’s got a healthy appetite and already has that screech “I’m a T. Rex” attitude firmly in place.

A couple of days later this adult red-phase screech was found by the roadside, apparently hit by car. Kudos to the volunteer transporter who carved a four-hour round trip out of her day to pick up the bird from people who could have delivered it to LWR in about a 90-minute round trip but refused to.
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His left eye is a bit bloody but that should heal; the right is crusted and swollen shut but looks to be intact. Basically, he just had a major concussion and needed a safe space until he could get rid of that nasty headache.

​And then a third screech, another adult red phase, came in the next day, also HBC. He was in worse shape, unable to even stand for long. Nothing is broken and his eyes are clear; he just has a massive concussion. He’s actually feistier today than the bloody-eyed fellow, although he’s not eating as well yet.

​These adorably awkward hatchling woodpeckers whose eyes hadn’t even started opening when they arrived were victims of a tree removal service. Tree removal and pruning services are supposed to check for active nests before cutting/pruning, but few actually do—the almighty dollar takes precedence over the lives of wild babies. We won’t know exact species for a while yet, but I’m pretty sure they’re either red-headed or red-bellied—at this age they look and sound pretty darn similar!

​The mourning dove and two red-bellied woodpeckers in the songbird flight have been released, as have the mockers.  No sign of anyone except the woodpeckers, who are almost as bad as blue jays about hanging around and begging for handouts.

​The brown thrasher took a bit longer to leave but he’s out now, too, and pretty darn independent. 

​The cardinal is in the songbird flight now.

The grackle didn’t make it; he was somewhat neurological when he came in but as nothing was physically damaged, I put it down to mild trauma from the fall from his nest. Apparently there was more going on; it got progressively worse despite everything possible being done to counteract it, and he lost the battle early in the week.
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The barred owl sextet have passed their live prey test and will be released as soon as we have three consecutive days with low/no rain predicted. We desperately need the rain that we’re getting right now, though, so a “rain delay” in their release suits me just fine.

The plan was for the adult barred from last week to spend some time with the juvies, rebuilding his flight strength before release, but despite being alert, active and eating well, he died between his morning and evening meals late in the week, and another adult barred was DOA a few days later.
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Once the barreds are out, the GHO trio will go in, and they’re chomping at the bit for a little “wing room.”

The leg trap GHO is still showing no signs of improvement in that permanently splayed foot; he cannot flex it at all. I don’t want to give up on him yet but it’s looking less and less like a release is in his future.
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The goslings are happy, messy, growing little waterfowl. I can’t believe how much they’ve shot up in just the past week!

When a lady noticed one of these Carolina wrens out of the nest and checked it, the nest had been wrecked and the other babies were also scattered, with no sign of the parents. It was near dark so she put them back in the remnants of the nest for the night, in hopes the parents would return. They didn’t, so she brought the nestlings to LWR. They’re stressy little birds and were used for show and tell before arriving at LWR, so we’ll see how that affects them long-term. Thus far they’re doing well.

Folks, when you find orphaned, injured or ill wildlife, PLEASE understand that it is already stressed to the max, and you do NOT need to add to that stress by having all the neighbors over to see your latest find, dragging it around to show off to the neighbors, or using it as show and tell for schoolchildren. Place the wildlife in a safe, quiet space, on low heat if you have unfeathered/unfurred or not fully feathered/furred babies, and CALL A REHABBER IMMEDIATELY. Do NOT attempt to feed unless you’ve been told what and how to feed by a wildlife rehabber—and do NOT wait 12-24 hours or longer to contact a rehabber. That bird/animal’s very existence is now in your hands, and in order for it to have the best chance at survival, you need to get it to a rehabber ASAP. No delays!
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This poor Carolina wren nested over someone’s door and even though they knew the nest was there, they continued to use the door.  She flew into their house when they opened the door after dark and she got spooked. She flew into their ceiling fan, and it killed her; she was dead on arrival. 

​Sadly, she also had three eggs in the nest, which I asked be brought along with her when I thought she might be savable, as the callers indicated they thought only her wing was broken. The eggs were stone cold upon arrival but a quick candling as I moved them from the nest to heat indicated they might be viable if they weren’t too long without heat. We’ll know in a few days if they start to show signs of further development, but I’m honestly not too hopeful…

​People, if you have a nest near/over your door and you know it's there, PLEASE, for God's sake, DON'T USE THAT DOOR until the babies fledge. Surely your house has more than one door, and yes, it might be a little inconvenient to use the back door rather than the front or vice versa for a few weeks, but you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you did your part to help wild parents safely brood and raise their young.  A little inconvenience for just a few weeks can make the difference between life and death for wildlife. Humanity does enough to screw up Nature; give these birds the space and safety they need to raise their young!
 
Four raptors came in Saturday from Libby Carey, mammal rehabber in Lowndes County, via volunteer transporters.
 
This HBC barred owl has no apparent injuries and seemed very alert and aggressive on intake, so I figured it’d be okay to stick him in the raptor flight with the barred sextet. 

​Oh no. No, the cool teen club did NOT appreciate my placing an old fogey in with them. They clustered at one end, making their displeasure known quite vocally, while he sat on the ground and made no attempt to fly. Based on the way the flash reflected off his eyes, it appears he’s actually blind, so he’s back inside. Sometimes blindness in head trauma victims is temporary; we’ll give him some time to see what happens.
 
This young red shoulder—or maybe Coop; at this age it’s sometimes hard to be sure, but he sounds like a red shoulder—is too small to be out of the nest but was found on the ground with no parents in sight. He’s a very stressed little fellow and must be force-fed.

​These two fledgling red shoulders were kidnapped by a well-meaning beekeeper, according to Libby. He was convinced they’d been stung by his bees, although Libby’s initial triage and my exam on intake at LWR showed no evidence of this.

​People, really, if a rehabber says put the birds back where you found them, please do so immediately. There’s no reason for these two birds to be in rehab except an overzealous person refused to accept a trained individual’s assessment that the birds were fine, had not been stung and would not bother his bees…
 
And just this morning, a caller reported rescuing a “baby” blue jay from mobbing robins the previous evening. The robins apparently had the jay down and were attacking him, so she shooed them away and placed the jay in a safe location. This morning his parents were around but so were the robins…and an outside cat…for the bird’s safety, it seemed best for him to finish fledging at LWR.
 
When she showed up with the bird, however, he turned out to be an older fledgling who isn’t real happy about being at LWR. Still, better here than ripped apart by someone’s free-roaming cat…

​Again, folks, especially during baby season, an outside/free roaming cat is a death sentence to nestling and fledgling birds. The nestlings can’t escape at all; the fledglings don’t fly well and haven’t developed the sixth sense for danger that an adult bird will have—they’re still relying on their parents to alert them to danger, and if the parents are off seeking food for their newly-fledged young, they can’t alert them to a marauding cat.
 
Bottom line—and repeat it with me; you’ve heard it often enough: keep cats indoors for their own safety and that of the wildlife around your yard!