800 Birds

Birds numbers 788, 789, and 800 came to stay with us today. Three Chimney Swifts. Their nest fell down into the fireplace. The nice people scooped them up and brought them in. For those of you who have never heard chimney swifts, let me tell you the place just got a whole lot noisier than it has been!

Aflatoxins in Bird Seed

I would love to take credit for this posting, but the truth be known, I stole the idea from Penny Miller's blog, "A Charm of Finches." (Click on her link at right.) It is very good information and I wanted to pass it on.
Many, many of us enjoy feeding birds in our backyards. it may be for the opportunities to see a new species, the sheer relaxation of kicking back and just watching their antics, or just providing a little something extra to help them out. Some people only feed during the winter, some just during the spring when nest building takes place and many, like my wife and I, feed year round.
It is just as important to keep your feeders clean in the summer as it is in the winter. Wild Bird Rescue has been receiving doves (especially White-winged Doves) coming to us extremely emaciated. We have checked for trich, but there is no sign. The best guess from symptoms is aflatoxin from a fungus that grows in seed when it is hot and humid -- the perfect description of our weather over the past month. Although the humidity is starting to drop, it is still unusually humid in our area.
Store your seed in a clean, dry place, if possible. Clean and disinfect your feeders weekly. this will help prevent aflatoxins and other diseases that pass from bird to bird.
Also, many of you are trying to attract hummingbirds. The sugar water mixtures we feed are very prone to breeding harmful bacteria, expecially in the heat. Replace your nectar every three days, preferably before it develops a cloudy appearance. Clean and disinfect at least once a week. If you feel you are throwing away a lot of sugar water, mix only half as much at a time.
In addition to the information Penny provided in her blog, many of the people who have brought us the sick birds have commented that they observed them down in their yard 3 to 5 days before they realized something was wrong. If a wild bird does not fly away when you approach, there is something wrong. Please don't wait so long before you bring them to us. Aflatoxin is treatable with supportive care. The sooner we start that care, the better chance we have of sending them back into the wild.
We all enjoy watching birds in our yard. In return, we should do our best to keep them healthy.

Baby Mississippi Kites

Baby Mississippi Kites have started arriving at Wild Bird Rescue. The photo shows Assistant Director and Educational Coordinator Lila with the first 4 of this season. We have cared for as many as 75 at one time in past years. Hope we don't go that far this year! But we will be here if they need us.

Kestrel's Release

700

Bird number 700 came to us today. This late in the year and we are still seeing nestling doves. A nestling White-winged and a nestling Eurasian Collard Dove made numbers 699 and 700.

We have been very lucky so far this year. Lots and lots of rain, but no storms and no wind.

Scissortails, Kingbirds, and Others

Can't tell one from the other, but here are a Killdeer and a White-winged Dove keeping each other company in their food dish.

We think this little guy is a Brown-headed Cowbird.

Purple Martins.

We are still raising baby birds, and I'm still elbow-deep in cages. Wouldn't trade it for the world.

Kingbirds.

This is what we see when we get up close to the birds to feed them.

Here is a group of Scissortail Flycathers "hanging out" with Kingbirds.

Scissortail Flycatchers are the last babies to arrive in the spring, and the last to leave in the fall. At this point, they are big enough to want to catch their food in the air. Alicia is very good about dangling worms for them to eat.

Here's Alicia feeding a hatchling that we think is a Kestrel. Time will tell as he grows his distinctive feathers.

June and 296 Babies

June has now passed. It is amazing we are this late into the summer and still have not seen one single day of 100 degrees. As of June 30th we have received 637 birds for the year (23 less than this time last year). 296 birds came to us in the month of June. Our current release rate (those already released plus those pending release) is 68.56%. We are still seeing baby Blue Jays, Mockingbirds, Robins, Sparrows, and Grackles. In addition, we have received Wrens, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and Western Kingbird babies. So far no baby Kites, but I bet they are just around the next corner.

Time to feed babies.