Those who care; those who don’t

Yeah, it’s a bit of a harsh assessment, I suppose, to say some people just don’t care, but what other conclusion can you draw when people allow birds to starve to death—literally—before seeking help? And contrast that with those people who, upon finding a bird in distress, immediately seek help and by their timely actions most likely save the bird’s life. Opposite ends of the spectrum, and LWR experienced both this past week.
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Last Sunday afternoon a caller reported children had found a fledgling mocker in the trash can at their church. How he got there, no one knows, but he’d managed to get himself covered with some sticky goop that they tried to rinse off before realizing it was gonna require more than a simple rinse. An adult called LWR; we met and the poor goopy mocker had the first of several baths to remove whatever residue was on his feathers. Their prompt action saved his life; he’s now in the flight pen and should be releasable soon.

​In contrast, the person who found two pre-fledgling blue jays on the ground allowed them to sit in an open box for seven hours before calling LWR; it was another three hours before they arrived. By this time they were on their way out. One already had his eyes closed and struggled to remain upright; the other could barely keep his eyes open and sat hunched in the box. They were started on fluids immediately to try and reverse the damage, but it was too little too late. Both died within an hour of intake. They never made a sound; they never even got proper food, as feeding a dehydrated bird can kill it.

​The same day the jays were allowed to starve to death, a woman’s children alerted her to nestlings in distress after seeing a dead adult bird on the ground and hearing babies screaming their heads off. She immediately called her vet, who referred her to LWR. Within an hour the birds were at LWR. Her quick action saved three Carolina wrens—adorable but very stressy little birds.

​Hot on the heels of this caring woman making sure those Caros had a chance at survival, a couple found another nest of Caros in a vehicle they bought out of town. Instead of seeking help upon finding them, they dumped them in a large box with bird seed. BABY birds—insectivores, at that—in a box full of bird seed. And there they sat all night and half the next day, with no food they could eat. One became so desperate it escaped from the box and died trying to find someone to help it.  Of the two brought to LWR, one died on the way home from pickup; the third was iffy but seems to be doing well today.

​And then we have the people who, upon having a young red shouldered hawk fall into their dog pen at 9:30 at night, immediately sought help and had the bird to LWR within an hour. Luckily, they were in the dog pen at the time he fell and were able to rescue him before the dogs got near him.

​The monitor for a bluebird nest box was dismayed to discover upon her daily check that two of three four-day-old babies were cold and unresponsive and the third was in critical condition. She indicated she checked the box at approximately the same time every day, which is what I also do with my boxes, and that the babies were fine the previous day. Unfortunately, the two unresponsive babies were DOA; the third baby died within 90 minutes of intake. In this case there was simply nothing to be done, but still, the finder did at least immediately seek help when she realized the parents had apparently been killed—bluebirds don’t abandon nests, as a rule.

You don’t have to be a brain surgeon or a rocket scientist to know that BABY birds need immediate help if they’re injured, if they’re unnested and cannot be renested, or if one or both parents are dead. Common sense should tell you that a BABY bird needs to eat often, just like a baby human, and that, like a baby human, a BABY bird cannot feed itself. Would you toss an open jar of baby food into an infant’s crib when s/he was still being bottle-fed and expect him/her to be able to eat it on his/her own? I mean, really, people. COMMON SENSE. Use it.

Aside from these studies in contrasts it was a fairly good week at LWR.
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The red-bellied woodpecker was released and is still coming down periodically for handouts.

​The common ground dove continues to grow but is slow to attempt self-feeding. Although ground doves aren’t frequent guests at LWR, the few we’ve seen have been stubbornly slow to independence, and this little one is proving no exception.

​The cardinals are in the flight pen and about ready to fly the coop, as it were. Below is a “good” photo of them along with a funnier shot in which all three were busily preening. Cracks me up every time I look at it!

​The younger screech still won’t pick up his own food, but he’ll sure inhale a mouse or two.

​The older screech’s eye cleared up beautifully—remember, he was HBC last week and his eye was swollen shut on intake—and he was released after expressing his deep gratitude for his stay at LWR—see photo below. (HEAVY sarcasm, people!)

​The GHO trio continues to—well, be goofy as only GHOs can be. The absolutely amazing news is that the youngest of the Stooges—the one with the wrist fracture that we were sure would never fly and were looking to place as an ed bird—is in fact FLYING! I first saw him go from flat on the ground to a perch; the next day I stood outside the flight and observed him flying around inside. He’s still young and learning and his uncertain flight reflects that, but both wings are fully extended and his flight is level if still a bit shaky. He’s gonna be releasable after all!

​The female house finch I thought had a broken wing turned out to have only a sprain or bruise. The second time she escaped from her limited movement box during cleaning and led me a merry chase, I decided to flight test her in the flight pen. Once I caught her again—couldn’t use the escape hatch with birds still not ready for release in there—she was released.

​The mourning dove with the puncture under her wing is healing nicely, as is the scalped cat-attack victim, whose wing turned out to have a through-and-through puncture wound in the muscle and not a fracture. Both should be good for the flight pen within a week or so, although there’s still the possibility for both that there may be ligament/tendon damage that could preclude flight.

​The younger brown thrasher is almost ready for release; the older, whose eyes are already getting their adult color, still hasn’t started growing flight feathers to replace those he broke in learning to perch with that awkward leg. Thrashers spend a lot of time on the ground, so I needed to know he could run with that bum leg, too—and boy, can he! I can’t touch him anymore.

​The bluebirds are still handleable—barely—and show some signs that the remnants of their mocker-damaged flight feathers might be slowly falling out. The sooner, the better, so new flight feathers can grow back in; I really don’t want to have to keep these babies captive until their first molt!

​And the possum has discovered, as we try various new foods with him, that he simply ADORES mealworms. What a treat for him—like candy for a child!