Autumn Babies

Posted on February 1, 2012 by guest author

As winter descends, we take a look back at a few of the nestling songbirds brought to the Wild Bird Fund last fall

By Jen Jie Li

photo: Fred Cohen

A baby cardinal was left with its sibling in a box on the doorstep of an apartment building on the Upper West Side. Arina, a resident in the building, brought the birds to the Wild Bird Fund where they where found to be malnourished and dehydrated. Sadly, one of the siblings died within two days. This one survived, thriving in a cage with two mockingbirds, one adult cardinal, and a starling.

photo: Fred Cohen

This fledgling mockingbird was found on the sidewalk of Main Street & Union Turnpike in Kew Gardens. At the time, this fledgling was barely moving. Its eyes were closed with its head drooping. If it had been alert and healthy, it should have been left alone or placed in a nearby shrub. It’s normal for fledglings to spend several days on the ground.

In this particular case, however, it was apparent that the bird would not make it without intervention. The rescuer, Anthony, brought it to the Wild Bird Fund, where it was treated for dehydration and fed FONS formula for nestling songbirds, and where it met another mockingbird, a baby cardinal, a starling, and a noble Roman bust.

photo: Jen Jie Li

Juvenile songbirds raised in captivity need a process of “soft release,” through which they learn how to forage outdoors in the company of other adult birds (rather than finding their food in small bowls). The good news is that songbirds mature quickly. Within four weeks both the cardinal and mockingbird were taken to the Raptor Trust in NJ for soft release in the fall.


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Going Cuckoo

Posted on December 8, 2011 by guest author

There’s a rare bird alert at the Wild Bird Fund

By Jen Jie Li

yellow-billed cuckoo

photo: Fred Cohen

On September 9, Sarah found an adult Yellow-billed Cuckoo on the sidewalk of 44th Street between Lexington and Third Avenue. The cuckoo was cowering and unable to fly, so Sarah brought it to the Wild Bird Fund. The cuckoo had an injured right wing and broken collarbone.

The Wild Bird Fund prescribed two weeks of peaceful “cage rest” for the cuckoo – who the WBF named Sarah, after it’s rescuer – but Sarah had her own ideas. Sarah took an instant dislike to that “other bird” in the mirror and engaged in fierce pecking battles with its reflection – leading the the rehabbers to suspect that Sarah was a boy.

yellow-billed cuckoo
photo: Fred Cohen

Sarah also refused to eat the food given to him in his cage, so he had to be hand-fed to be kept from starving. Sarah was not a happy bird. Before the two weeks were up, however, this brave cuckoo was eating blueberries and mealworms on its own, flying short distances, and darting out of its cage at every opportunity. After making a full recovery, Sarah was released in Central Park.

A Wild Bird Fund volunteer feeds Sarah with FONS formula for insectivores through a tube and syringe. photo: Jen Jie Li

About the Yellow-billed Cuckoo

  • Cuckoos are a rare sighting in Manhattan.
  • Yellow-billed Cuckoos prefer to live in open woodland areas with clearings and scrubby vegetation along the water.
  • Although still prevalent in the eastern part of the US, the Cuckoo’s population in the West has dropped drastically in the last century.
  • The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is listed as endangered in California.
  • The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is also known as the Rain Crow because its calls are heard more often on cloudy days.
  • Have you heard the Yellow-billed Cuckoo?

Keep up with The Wild Bird Fund on Facebook and Twitter!

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We’ve Reached Critical Mass!

Posted on July 29, 2011 by teresa mariano

Wild Bird Fund Volunteers and Bird Fosters Needed Immediately!

The Wild Bird Fund currently is caring for 69 birds – and that number is growing every day. Most of the birds are babies who need round-the-clock feeding and care. We have sparrows, robins, pigeons, kestrels, a blue jay and a cardinal, and they all need your help.

In order to continue providing care for the birds that come in on a daily basis and take care of our growing flock, we’re turning to you for help.

The Wild Bird Fund needs volunteers to feed the birds throughout the day (we’ll train you) and foster homes where the birds can stay until being released (again, we’ll train you). If you can volunteer your time or open your home, we’d like to talk to you.

Please call us at: 646-306-2862

New York’s wild bird population and The Wild Bird Fund thank you.

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Wild Bird Fund’s Summer Fundraiser

Posted on June 1, 2011 by teresa mariano

Celebrate the Creation of New York City’s First
Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center!

New York City is the only major U.S. city without a dedicated wildlife rehabilitation center. The Wild Bird Fund is about to change that, and we really need your help.

Big news! The Wild Bird Fund just signed a ten-year lease for 565 Columbus Ave., an attractive storefront just across the street from Animal General and the Center of Avian and Exotic Medicine. Our architect is already drawing up the plans for the build-out, for which we have financing. All we need now is the money for medical equipment, supplies, cages, and operating expenses.

So, please join us on June 18 at the Boat Basin Cafe for The Wild Bird Fund Takes Flight, a summer fundraiser.

 

Blog announcementThe celebration includes:

  • A raffle
  • A silent auction
  • Live demonstrations of rehab techniques
  • An opportunity to meet our rehab team and some of our patients

When: June 18, 2011 from 4 to 8 pm.
Where: Boat Basin Café, W. 79th St. at the Marina
Tickets: $20, children free

Tickets are tax deductible and available at the door and online.

If you are unable to join us but still want to help New York City’s wildlife, you can make a donation at wildbirdfund.com or by mail; Wild Bird Fund, 558 Columbus Avenue, New York, NY 10024

Spread the word: Tell your friends! See you there!

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Get Him to the Goose

Posted on May 23, 2011 by teresa mariano

An animal rescuer puts himself in danger to save a Brant goose

Goose

When he got the call to attend to a duck tangled in fishing line on April 30, Animal Care and Control rescuer Brendon Ocasio didn’t expect anything unusual, but upon arriving to the scene in Gravesend Bay in Brooklyn, between Bensonhurst and Coney Island, Brendon knew this rescue would be anything but usual. Instead of finding a tangled up duck, he found a Brant, a small ocean goose, so badly tangled in fishing line that it was tethered to an algae-covered rock about 10 feet out into the bay. To make the situation even more dire, a 20-ft. embankment separated Brendon from the Brant.

“The tide was coming in and he was getting smacked up (against the rocks). I was ready to get in the water,” Brendon says. Realizing that the Brant was in distress, Brendon acted quickly. He didn’t have a ladder or repelling equipment, so Brendon did the next best thing: He tied the lead ropes he uses in dog rescues to the embankment’s railing and lowered himself, armed with a carrier, into the bay. As he carefully climbed over the slick rocks, Brendon saw that the Brant’s leg, body and wing were wrapped in fishing line. “I’m for people fishing, but throw away your stuff,” Brendon says.

Brendon approached the Brant, cradled it in his arms, and cut away enough of the fishing line to free the Brant and place it in the carrier. The Brant remained calm as Brendon freed it from the rock. “It was really tired; it had obviously been fighting for awhile,” Brendon says. “But I knew no matter what, we were going to get him.”

Brendon climbed back up the embankment where a crowd had gathered to watch the rescue – including the woman who called it in and took the photos – with the Brant secured in the carrier, and headed to The Wild Bird Fund, currently located at Animal General on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. There, rehabbers removed the rest of the fishing line from the exhausted Brant – the line was wrapped twice around its left wing and wound tightly around its left leg – and applied a pressure bandage to the wound from where the line cut into the goose’s leg.

From a distance, the Brant resembles a diminutive Canada goose but with a blacker head, neck and chest, and a white, broken collar. Brants are common to the New York area, but the chances of seeing them in the city are slim. These are coastal geese that winter along the shore and then fly off to the high Arctic tundra in the spring for mating season.

The Brant stayed with The Wild Bird Fund until May 6 when Robin, who works for Animal General, took it back to the boat landing at Gravesend Bay for release. Robin said that the Brant, who arrived at The Wild Bird Fund exhausted and stressed, was very impressive as it flew off to join other Brants.

The Wild Bird Fund is grateful for Brandon and other animal rescuers for their passion and dedication to helping New York’s wildlife. When asked what he was thinking that day when he climbed over the embankment to rescue the Brant, Brandon says, “I was thinking of the steps I needed to take…This isn’t a job for me; it’s a passion.”

Keep up with The Wild Bird Fund. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

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