When birds and cats mix

Folks, I’ve said it over and over: birds and cats don’t mix. If you have cats, KEEP THEM INDOORS if you don’t want to see them do what comes naturally, which is kill birds. I have cats, myself. I love my cats. My cats are indoor-only because it’s safer for them and definitely safer for the birds that frequent my yard.

Why lead with a rant? This gentle little mourning dove came in this afternoon, with a broken left wing and deep puncture wounds on the right wing after being taken away from a cat. The left wing is an open fracture at the joint, meaning it’s a fatal break. The bird will require euthanasia.

Cats kill birds. It’s their job description. You cannot blame a cat for doing what comes naturally, but you can blame people who refuse to take responsibility for their cats and allow them to remain outdoors, with these kinds of fatal results.

In less grim news, the flight pen is a-flutter with soon-to-be-released birds.  The brown thrasher was released and didn’t look back, but was quickly replaced by the house finches and woodpecker from the last update. Today I moved the barn swallows into the flight pen, too, but they haven’t settled down enough yet for any decent photos.

Below are some photos of the current residents in the flight pen.

These shots of the red bellied woodpecker preening are just neat.

The adult brown thrasher from last week’s update is still unable to fly properly, so he remains an unwilling guest while we assess the situation. There may be soft tissue damage—a torn ligament or tendon—that will preclude flight for him forever, or it may be a severe muscle strain that just needs more time to heal. We’ll just have to wait and see.

The hummer has been released and while I’ve seen her from a distance at one of my feeders,  she’s not coming down for supplemental feedings.

Yet another hummer came in, with no apparent wing fractures but lacking the ability to fly. Both wings flutter perfectly and evenly; there’s just no lift. Again, we’ll wait and see what happens with her.

This chuck-will’s-widow came in with a nasty open left wing fracture and some minor damage to the right wing.  This was also a fatal fracture, and given its severity and the accompanying blood loss, I really didn’t figure he’d make it through the night. He did, however, but died as I was loading him up to take in him for euthanasia the next day.

You can see the exposed bone in this closeup.

Chuck-will’s-widows are in the Goatsucker family, nocturnal birds that eat insects on the wing and tend to fly low to the ground. They have tiny beaks that open to great, gaping maws, aiding them in “scooping” insects from the air in flight. 

This gorgeous barn owl was found in the bushes near a pond.  She’s quite a conundrum. Her feet suggest an older bird, but her feathers suggest a younger bird. Barnies are usually pretty vocal, with hisses that sound like a gas leak, frequently followed by bloodcurdling screams. She’s made no sound whatsoever. Barnies aren’t known to be especially docile; she’s quite docile. It’s usually a struggle to get barnies to eat in captivity, at least initially. She readily takes food from the feeding forceps.  Her wings aren’t broken but she makes no attempt to fly.

She was very weak and emaciated when she came in; I haven’t had her long enough to put much weight on her, but a regular diet of proper food has already, in just a few days, improved her strength. She’s also much more alert. She’ll be headed to Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends early this week, as he has more extensive experience with barnies and is hopeful he can figure out what this girl’s issues are and address them so that she can eventually be released.

I’ve discussed her at length with Steve, and yep, we’re thinking humans have screwed her up…She doesn’t act imprinted, but she does act as if she’s had extensive—and not very pleasant—contact with humans.  And you have to ask why rehabbers aren’t, as a general rule,  “people” persons?