Winter at the Hospital

Winter is a tough season for many.   In a frigid Long Island winter, wildlife can have an equally hard time.  Our bays and ponds are now frozen over with ice, which thins and thickens with the daily temperature changes.   Open water is scant and food is tougher to find for many birds that rely on this water. 

Keeping with the trend of the last few seasons, this winter has not been a slow one.   Injured ducks, hit-by-car gulls and emaciated loons now keep us very busy, in addition to the occasional dove, squirrel and owl among other patients.    In contrast to many of our spring and summer patients that are healthier young animals that have been orphaned, all of these patients have critical injuries and for the ones that survive their injuries, their rehabilitation is often difficult and lengthy. 

The two Red-throated Loons that are now residing in our hospital's tub and isolation room are our most intensive of patients currently in the hospital.   The first loon admitted from the middle of Park Avenue in Huntington, likely came down towards a pond near the road in search of open water, in the middle of our bitterly cold spell a week and a half ago.  While loons on Long Island generally prefer the more open Long Island Sound and neighboring harbors, this emaciated loon was likely very hungry and looking for open water anywhere he could find.  Unfortunately, his travels on Park Avenue also led him to the danger of vehicles.  Hit by a car and suffering from head trauma, this loon was brought to our hospital for rehabilitation early last week.  Now, with his neurological symptoms resolved, we are focusing on allowing the loon to gain weight slowly through hand feedings of Spearing three times daily.  In addition to his low body weight, we have the added complication of helping this animal to restore his necessary feather waterproofing prior to release.  The preen gland located at the base of the bird's tail allows the bird to spread oils all over the feathers which prevent him from getting cold and "water-logged" in the water.  Many compromised animals will stop preening when ill or injured and these birds will often get hypothermic in the water.   Twice daily baths encourage this loon to preen and we hope soon that his weight and his waterproofing may be suitable for release. 

A second Red-throated Loon of a heftier size (although still thin) was admitted this morning to our hospital from a veterinarian in Massapequa.   This loon was also found in the road, however, seems to be in better overall condition than our first loon.  His feathers are still waterproof and we hope that some hearty fish meals will get this male ready for release in a couple of days. 

Fall Migration and Window Collisions

This is the time of year in which we receive many telephone calls about small birds that have collided into people's windows. They are often confused with being a baby bird, but we can rule that out at this point, as "baby season" is over.

Often with window collisions, there is no visible injury: the bird is stunned and can often recover quickly. Other times, it can take longer. You may notice the bird appears puffed up or hunched over; in other cases, it looks like the bird has a broken neck (head is cocked upside down). It is actually not a broken neck, but a head injury where the symptoms are known as torticollisis, or "stargazing"(see photo below of Red-tailed Hawk). In any case, the bird can be gently placed into a cardboard box (such as a shoebox) with one or two small holes poked in the box for ventilation. Put the box in a dark, quiet place such a garage or a bathroom and allow it some time to recover. If after an hour or two the bird is still incapacitated, contact us or another rehabilitator for further assistance. Do not try to feed the bird, or give it water: a dark, quiet place, and some time are all it needs at this point.

Why does this happen? There are several reasons:
Vision: While it is fairly easy for most birds to avoid building and large objects, they can have difficulty perceiving transparent obstacles, such as windows and other panes of glass. Furthermore, when plants are displayed inside on a windowsill, this makes it look as if a safe flyway exists.

Migration (which is happening now): Adult birds, often mistaken as baby birds, are often found colliding into windows each fall. These birds are birds that have migrated back to our area. Tired after travelling perhaps a thousand miles, they are often confused by windows and/or lighted buildings. New York City is a major flyway for migrating birds, and in an attempt to reduce collisions at this time of year, NYC has instituted a "Lights Out" program to reduce the number of collisions.

Territory: While this situation usually happens in the spring, it is still worth mentioning.
Sometimes birds intentionally crash into windows (and side view mirrors of cars, glass doors, etc); this is usually territorial. There is either a nest nearby or the bird is seeing its reflection and defending its territory. Try to put something up to block his reflection, and they usually move onto something else.

What can you do to help? There are several steps you can take:
-Have bird feeders either far back in the yard, or within a few feet of the window. This leaves less room for the birds to fly; window strikes will occur at a slower speed and the bird is less likely to be hurt.
-Avoid placing plants on your windowsill, as this can be confusing to birds.
-Reduce window reflections by having screens or shades covering the window. Blinds are also helpful, as they can be moved to reduce reflections while still allowing you to see outside.
-Purchase items that help prevent window collisions:
*Collidescape: A thin transparent film that attached to the window. Visit this website for a demonstration on how it works.
*Droll Yankees “Warning Web”: static cling that attaches to the window:
* I have also found a economical and fun way to reduce reflections by using seasonal
   gel clings such as these: http://www.impactinnovationsinc.com/gel-clings.html
   on windows. They can usually be found in pharmacies such as CVS and Rite-Aid.

Below are a few photos of birds that have come into our hospital after colliding with windows:



Top photo: This is a Red-tailed Hawk that collided through a picture window, shattering the window and breaking off half of her beak (visible in the photo). Unfortunately, after 4 months and after much discussion with other raptor experts, due to damage done to the bony core of her beak, structurally her beak would not grow back and we had to make the difficult decision to put her to sleep.

Below: Palm Warbler that collided into a window. This bird was released.


This is an example of "stargazing" - see how this bird is holding his head cocked sideways?

This is a very young Red-tailed Hawk that came into our facility after suffering head trauma. His recovery took a long time, and at a crucial age developmentally, he became very accustomed to people, growing up around them. He is one of our permanent Education Animals (Baby) and can be seen any day in our outside aviary, where he lives with his female friend, Lucky Lady.

The Goose That Swallowed Fishing Line

In late February, our veterinarian transferred a very sick Canada Goose to us. The goose was so emaciated that he had a hard time standing up, and had a large mass in his throat. The plan was to house him at our hospital until he had gained significant weight, then bring him back to the vet for an assessment and surgery to examine what exactly the mass in his throat was. Due to his emaciated state, it was unsafe for the goose to undergo surgery at this point.


The goose temporarily made a home with us for a couple of weeks, chowing down on high quality waterfowl food with fresh greens and vitamins. He enjoyed a daily bath, and due to our low patient load during this time, even had his own private room!

Early last week, the goose had gained significant enough weight, so we decided to bring him to our vet right away. A couple of hours later, our vet called and said the surgery was a success! The mass in his throat that we had all been wondering about was actually a large amount of fishing line that he had mistakenly swallowed. After about a week in recovery, he was released today in Locust Valley. We are so happy to have released an animal that was once in such serious danger!

Improperly discarded fishing line is a HUGE hazard to wildlife. We have admitted many injured animals that have been harmed by accidentally swallowing fishing line, or getting tangled in it. Marcus, one of our owl ambassadors, Too many animals die every year from the dangers of improperly discarded fishing line.

Photo credit: summitcountyvoice.com
This picture of improperly discarded fishing line shows how the line can
become easily concealed in grass, making it easy for an animal to get tangled
in it or accidentally ingest it when grazing on grass.

To learn more about wildlife and fishing line, please visit this link: http://www.helpwildlife.com/

To learn where to properly discard your fishing line, please visit any of these links:

http://townofhempstead.org/news/522-a-reel-way-to-recycle-fishing-line-in-hempstead-town-new-program-aimed-at-keeping-bays-tangle-free

http://www.goingcoastal.org/fishingline.html





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Weekend Releases!

     This past weekend we released two patients that have been with us for over a month: A Herring Gull and a Mourning Dove. It is always a great thrill to release patients after a long recovery.

     The Mourning Dove, who had been with us since late January, came to us with a neck twisted ninety degrees to the right side. This torsion of the neck made him unable to stand or eat on his own. Many birds suffer a twisting of the neck (called Torticollis) after a sudden head-on impact (typically with cars or windows). This is typically not a permanent problem, but takes some time for the neck to straighten out. When we admit birds with this problem, we make them as comfortable as possible while the torsion slowly heals. We must forcefeed all of these patients, as they are unable to feed themselves.
     After some time, the dove was finally able to right himself and began to stand and eat on his own. His head was no longer tilted. Once we were sure that he was stable, he put him in a large outdoor aviary where he would be able to fly and get acclimated to the outdoors again. After about 10 days of being in our protected aviary, we decided he was flying well enough to be released! We thank the compassionate donor that brought this injured dove to us, and wish him luck in the upcoming Spring!

      The Herring Gull was admitted to us on February 5th. A concerned couple found him while walking on Jones Beach. He was not moving, and both of his wings were hanging on the ground. We took the gull right away to get X-rays, and discovered he had not one, but fractures in both of his wings. This poor gull had really been through a lot! We suspect he was struck by a car.
      We were instructed by our veterinarian to keep him in a smaller enclosure while his wings healed, because any excessive movement of the wings could impede proper healing of the wing. After a few weeks, we moved him into a larger enclosure, and started giving him daily baths where he could bath and stretch his wings after a long period of inactivity. We also started putting him outside for the day in an outdoor aviary. His wings seemed to have healed well, as they were no longer hanging and were back in the proper position! We started to test flight the gull daily. His first few test flights did not go so well, which was to be expected after a long period of inactivity. Much to our delight, things changed yesterday. We tested his flight in our large, open 'recovery' room, where he flew around the room and was able to gain height. We decided that he did not need to be with us any longer, and released him later that day at a beach with many other gulls!

It's That Time of Year...

 Spring is just around the corner and here at Volunteers for Wildlife we are excited as we prepare for the 2012 baby season.  We rehabilitate several types of baby animals at our clinic including Eastern Cotton Tail rabbits, Eastern Grey squirrels, Virginia Opossums, and various species of native song birds.  With lots of hard work and a little TLC we try our best to return all of these orphans to the wild so that one day they will be able to have offspring of their own! One of my personal favorite species to work with is the Virginia Opossum, which is the only native Marsupial in North America.  Female opossums can give birth to up to 26 baby opossums at once; however only 13 are able to fit inside the mother's pouch and survive.  When they are born, these tiny babies can be as small as a jelly bean!  Young opossums will continue to grow in the safety of their mother's pouch and when they get too big to all fit together in there they will venture out and catch a ride on mom's back! 

One of our resident opossums, Millie, was an orphaned baby at our hospital about two years ago.  Unfortunately, Millie's mom got hit by a car, but because all eight of her babies were snuggled safely in her pouch they were able to survive.  Millie and her siblings were kept warm and fed often so that they could grow big and strong and be released out into the wild when they were ready.  As time went on, the staff at VFW started to notice that in this group of young opossums there was always one that seemed to have more interest in the human staff than in her own siblings.  For some reason, this little opossum was friendly toward people and didn't have much fear of anyone taking care of her.  Due to Millie's docile nature, she became a permanent resident at our education center and she now works to teach people all over Long Island how great Opossums are!  Shown here are pictures of Millie with her siblings as a baby (top) and Millie taking a stroll in our animal garden at Bailey Arboretum (bottom).

Exciting Upcoming Events!

Another warm winter week has quickly gone by here at the hospital. We've had an exciting week with several education programs and the release of an adult Mourning Dove that suffered a fractured wing after having been hit by a car. We released the dove on the South Shore near where he was found and he flew beautifully!

We've taken time in the last few weeks before our spring baby season begins to plan some exciting events open to the public. We hope you'll be able to join us for a few this spring!

Sunday, March 18th: 1:00-2:00 pm
Raptors of Long Island!

Come visit us at Bailey Arboretum and meet our resident Birds of Prey up close! Admission is free! Nature hike to follow with Bailey Arboretum's Dan Kriesberg.

Sunday, March 25th 1:00-2:30 pm
Photography Day with Volunteers for Wildlife!

Calling all Photographers! Join us for the incredible opportunity to photograph our resident animals as you learn about their natural history and role on Long Island. Program fee of $20/ photographer. Please send an email to wildlifeadvisory@gmail.com if you are interested in attending.

Sunday, April 22nd 12:30-2:00 pm

WILDLIFE BABY SHOWER!

Join us to welcome spring and learn all about young wild animals. We will have crafts for kids, games, live animals and more! Admission is free. "Baby shower gifts" from the following list are greatly appreciated.

Produce:

Strawberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, Romaine, Kale, Chicory, Frozen Vegetables (especially corn), Bell Peppers, Mushrooms, Grape Tomatoes

Other Food Items:

Natural Peanut Butter, Fresh/Frozen Mussels/Clams, Unflavored Oats

Items to Keep the Babies Warm:

Fleece Baby Blankets, Sunbeam Non-Auto Shutoff Heating Pads

Cleaning Supplies:

Sponges, Dish Soap, Bleach, Baking Soda, Bleach, Unscented Laundry Detergent

Happy Weekend Everybody!

We’ve had a busy last couple of days at our hospital. After a thorough check-up with a veterinarian that specializes in avian medicine, our Lesser Scaup was deemed healthy and ready for release. Although he had a steel pellet lodged in his side from this past duck-hunting season, our vet ensured us that the pellet would not interfere with his flight, and that many birds live with pellets in their bodies for their whole lives. We decided not to wait another day to release our Scaup, who has been in the custody of various animal hospitals since mid-January.

When we release any animal, we make sure that there are other animals of the same species in the area. This is especially important with birds which need to join a flock. We took a short trip to a pond in Oyster Bay where we discovered many male and female Lesser Scaup, as well as Buffleheads, Canada Geese, Mallards, and Mute Swans. This was the perfect spot for our Scaup! We went straight back to our hospital and released our little guy right away. He was very excited to go and quickly integrated himself with some other Scaup buddies.

We also released an Eastern Grey Squirrel that had been with us since September. We admit many orphaned baby squirrels every year, which we must raise on our own and then release once they are old enough. In order for our squirrels to properly acclimate to the wild, we release squirrels in places where we can provide food and shelter for them for as long as they need it. This is called “soft releasing” and is a common technique used by wildlife rehabilitators. Since I released the squirrel in my yard, I had a squirrel nestbox set up in a tree and a plethora of food ready for her for the next couple of weeks. Many squirrels move on to another home after only a couple of days, and some take much longer than that. When they decide to leave really depends on the squirrel!

Other events of note include a program we did on Sunday, February 5th about the winter adaptations of mammals. Our program featured our permanent Virginia Opossum siblings Martin and Millie, as well as Wyatt, our permanent Eastern Grey Squirrel. The program was followed by a fun and educational hike through Bailey Arboretum with Dan Kreisberg.