lbechtle@uceng.UC.EDU (laurie bechtler) (12/18/90)
While in the S.F. bay area last week (Redwood Shores, to be exact) I saw an injured cormorant walking along a road near the bay. It appeared to have fishline or some other plastic around its neck and was obviously in distress. However, I recalled warnings about how dangerous it can be to approach some birds, so I did nothing. For future reference for my relatives out there, are there any organizations to call about injured birds, or are individuals of non-threatened species just too much work to save? Here in Ohio there's an organization concerned with rehabilitating raptors, but I don't think common birds are included.
andrewt@cs.su.oz (Andrew Taylor) (12/19/90)
In article <6986@uceng.UC.EDU> lbechtle@uceng.UC.EDU (laurie bechtler) writes: > While in the S.F. bay area last week (Redwood Shores, to be exact) > I saw an injured cormorant walking along a road near the bay. It > appeared to have fishline or some other plastic around its neck and > was obviously in distress. However, I recalled warnings about how > dangerous it can be to approach some birds, so I did nothing. If you were worried about the commorant being dangerous to you. Thats not likely I've handled injured commorants with out problems. Handling most birds I reckon you only have to worry about your eyes (esp. egrets herons etc). Obviously handling some birds, e.g owls, involves more risk. If you worried about accidently injuring the bird, thats always possible. Whether you'll do more harm than good is hard to judge. Personally I'd try to catch a bird tangled in line 'cos its serious and you should be able to fix it on the spot. Andrew
jespah@milton.u.washington.edu (Kathleen Hunt) (12/19/90)
From: lbechtle@uceng.UC.EDU (laurie bechtler) *While in the S.F. bay area last week (Redwood Shores, to be exact) *I saw an injured cormorant walking along a road near the bay. It *appeared to have fishline or some other plastic around its neck and *was obviously in distress. However, I recalled warnings about how *dangerous it can be to approach some birds, so I did nothing. * *For future reference for my relatives out there, are there any *organizations to call about injured birds, or are individuals of *non-threatened species just too much work to save? Here in Ohio *there's an organization concerned with rehabilitating raptors, but *I don't think common birds are included. What you want is a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, either a single individual or a whole rehab clinic. There are hundreds of these people and a good scattering of clinics all over the country, and they are linked via the National Wildlife Rehabilitator's Organization. I have the directory from the NWRA, but unfortunately it's back in Boston and I'm in Seattle right now.... As you say, quite a few of the bird rehab clinics specialize in raptors, but there are quite a few that take other birds as well. Often the local Audubon chapter maintains a small clinic. If you find an injured bird and aren't sure who to call, call the local Audubon chapter and they will most likely know who the local rehab people are. Often the local zoo, police, and animal shelter also know where to take injured wildlife. If you find a large bird that can do some damage, such as a raptor, gull, or cormorant, you should not try to pick it up yourself but should instead try to contact a rehab clinic and then wait until they (or the animal shelter people, or whoever) can come. If they cannot come right away -- and often they can't, because rehab clinics are notoriously short on funding and employees -- and you feel you must get hold of the bird, try to find some thick gloves, and then throw a sheet or blanket over the bird. If you have friends you can all surround it together. For a cormorant, gull, or goose: Once the sheet is over it, somebody with gloves on should grab the beak to immobilize the head, and somebody else should grab the wings, tucked in to the body. If you are unused to holding birds, remember that they are good at wiggling their wings free. The more far forward you are holding the wings, the better. (If you hold too far back, all you are holding are feathers -- the actual bones and muscles of the wing are all in the front). If you are all by yourself, you can immobilize a cormorant by tucking its body (wings folded against its body) firmly between your legs as you squat over it (but don't sit on it with all your weight!), grabbing the beak with one or both hands. I must emphasize that birds with sharp beaks, especially fish- catching birds with mobile necks, can easily PUT YOUR EYE OUT so be *very* careful. I once almost lost an eye to a herring gull. Remember a wild bird may be very frightened and will try to defend itself. With raptors, you must be most careful about their powerful talons. Anyway, once you get the wild bird, you can put it in a cardboard box lined with newspaper, with a blanket over the top so it can't see anything (this helps keep the bird calm). Then you can put the box in a car and drive it to the shelter or clinic. If you have a cat or dog carrier, you can put a bird in that as well. Again, put a towel or something over the opening to keep the bird calm. The same goes for songbirds -- box or pet carrier with newspaper on the bottom, covered with a towel or sheet. Young nestlings can be put in a bowl lined with paper towels to serve as a temporary nest. Very young nestlings must be kept warm and hydrated. Also, very young nestlings can starve to death amazingly quickly. If you are going to be keeping a young nestling for more than a few hours, try to feed it something with protein in it -- high-protein Gerber baby cereal, for instance. Keeping a nestling healthy for more than a few days requires a carefully balanced diet, so try to bring the bird to professionals. Also remember that it is illegal to keep any wild birds other than the pigeon, the European starling and the house sparrow, unless you have a permit. Now that I seem to have gotten on the topic of songbirds... Don't make the mistake of thinking that a small, fluffy young songbird hopping around on the ground all by itself has been "abandoned". It is almost certain to be a healthy, recently-fledged youngster whose parents are hovering right nearby, wishing that you would leave so that they can come down and feed it. I do have some good nestling diets for ground-feeding omnivores, foliage- gleaning insectivores, and a few other categories, if anyone is interested. They're the diets used at the New England Wildlife Center. I worked there for a couple years, doing rehab work on all types of birds. I'm not too convinced of the ecological value of saving an individual here, an individual there. But morally, it has great value, and is a real heart- warming, good-Samaritan thing to do. One other note: before you throw those six-pack rings from beer and sodas in the trash, snip them up! It takes only a moment to do. You don't have to cut it into a million little pieces -- just do one snip through each of the circles (including the little tiny circles in the center), so that any animal that gets its head through the rings will not get stuck. This can be a real life-saver, literally! Hope this has been some help... Kathleen
danr@ais.org (Daniel Romanchik) (12/27/90)
In article <6986@uceng.UC.EDU> lbechtle@uceng.UC.EDU (laurie bechtler) writes: >For future reference for my relatives out there, are there any >organizations to call about injured birds, or are individuals of >non-threatened species just too much work to save? Here in Ohio >there's an organization concerned with rehabilitating raptors, but >I don't think common birds are included. Why not call the Humane Society? If they couldn't handle the problem, I'm sure they would know who could. Dan