Every bird in the flight pen from the past couple of weeks has now been released! That’s two barn swallows, two cowbirds, four house finches, a blue jay, a red bellied woodpecker, and the adult brown thrasher—all back in the wild where they belong!

Of course, my job doesn’t end with their release, most of the time, since I continue to provide supplemental feedings for one to two weeks after release, until the birds gradually stop coming down to me. For example, the flycatchers, released several weeks ago, have just this past week slowly stopped coming down. I have one who still shows up a couple of times a day, and I hear the other two but they don’t come down any more. And of course, the blue jays will continue to panhandle for weeks to come—remember, they’re “slow to independence,” i.e., shameless little beggars!

Below are a few shots of some of the recent releases, some in the flight pen and some outside. When you’re getting mobbed by over a dozen birds demanding a handout, it’s a bit difficult to snap photos, too!

The hummer who came in week before last still can’t fly, and the reason remains a mystery. Her wings are still fluttering evenly, but there’s no lift, no matter how hard she tries. She’s totally self-feeding, though, and is doing her best to fly, so we’ll give her more time.

She’s also molting—how neat is that, to be able to see a hummer molt?!

This gorgeous young red shoulder was found unnested, with no sign of the nest or parents. A typical loudmouthed red shoulder, he announced his displeasure at being in human hands with ear-piercing shrieks.  Honestly, red shoulder shrieks are at levels OSHA would consider a workplace hazard!

You can see from this closeup of his left wing that most of his feathers are still partially keratin-encased.

Songbird “baby season”  is winding to a close, although there should still be a trickle of juveniles coming in over the next few weeks—and having said that, I’ll probably be slammed now with late babies…It’s happened before!

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.

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?

And I’m not talking about fireworks on the Fourth, either! From July 1-3 LWR received 12 new birds, then there was a slight lull, and yesterday one more came in.

Lordy, where to begin? The brown thrasher, cowbird and one mocker are now in the flight pen (the second mocker didn’t make it), along with a blue jay who came in just days before he would have fledged.

The barn swallows look like crap because their new game is slinging food all over each other and their carrier; see below for pre- and post-bath photos—not much improvement. They’re happy little birds, even if they do remind me of Pigpen in Charlie Brown! They’re also beginning to test their wings, so the flight pen is in their near future.

This adult brown thrasher came in with a major case of dehydration and a severely bruised wing; I also suspect we had a pretty serious concussion going on, as it took three days for the poor bird to begin perching and eating on his own. He’s doing much better now, although he still favors that wing, as you can see in the photos.

The severe heat wave that ended June took its toll on wildlife; this screech owl was found standing in the shallow end of a pool, probably trying to cool off. Because we were worried about possible chlorine ingestion, I’ve had him for observation for a few days. He was lucky—no health issues from his exposure to the pool chemicals, and quite a healthy appetite. He’ll be sent back tomorrow to be released near where he was found. Below you can see him attempting to disappear, the apparent theory being that if his eyes are closed, I can’t see him!

LWR received yet another cowbird, this one the youngest this year. Quite a difference in just a week, huh?

These house finches came in just days before fledging, after one of their parents was found dead and the other seemed to’ve disappeared.  House finches are generally good-natured little birds with sweet voices, and these babies are no exception. They’re almost ready for the flight pen, too.

Wood ducklings are, as you no doubt remember from previous posts, very stressy, fragile little birds. These three tiny babies, probably no more than 3-4 days old, were found alone in a suburban yard. They were subsequently fed bread and milk (all together now: “Birds don’t have boobs; they cannot digest milk.”) and medicated starter feed, which is deadly to wood ducks. I was hopeful we’d dodged the proverbial bullet, as they seemed very alert, ate well and were preening after I got them, but none of them made it through the night. Of all the waterfowl I work with, I think wood ducks are my favorite, so I was really bummed about losing these babies.

This pre-fledgling red bellied woodpecker, however, was luckier. He was unnested in a storm, found at the base of a tree just before dark, and gotten to me the next morning. Red bellies are such pretty birds! Their name comes from a blush streak that runs down their bellies. This young fellow is also almost ready for the flight pen.

It’s the time of year we start seeing young Mississippi kites coming in, and sure enough, yesterday this baby was found beside the road, his sibling dead in the road. M. kites are small raptors whose diet actually consists for the most part of insects that they catch and eat in mid-air. If you’ve never seen this, you’ve missed a treat: they snag the insect with a foot and then bring the foot up to their beak to eat in flight. The adults have slate gray bodies, light gray heads and striking red eyes. They’re gorgeous, amazing birds; I have a great fondness for them.

And finally, the hummer is perching on the feeder as of today, but not drinking from it yet. Below are a few more neat shots of the imperious, stubborn, thoroughly delightful little snot.