Let’s start with the early week release—the red shoulder who was bouncing off the walls shot out of his box like he was fired from a cannon.
The nestling thrasher’s leg wasn’t broken (again, forgot to ask Smalley’s to send x-rays—same day we had to euthanize the MIKI) and we were hopeful that he’d regain near-full use of the leg, as he was already showing promising progress. But, as can too often happen in rehab, he was fine one night and dead the next morning, for no apparent reason.
This juvenile purple martin came in after being unnested and soaked in a rainstorm; he’s in the songbird flight with the blue jays, tree swallow, robin and shrike.
These sweet Carolina wren nestlings came in after being found in an engine. There were three but one died en route. One of the two survivors actually didn’t survive the night; the final wren made it 48 hours. They’re stressy little birds and don’t do well when they miss too many feedings.