Raising Common Murre Chicks in a Changing World

Posted on October 18, 2016December 9, 2016 by Monte Merrick

All along the west coast of North America, on the rocks and cliffs of the crumbling edge, Common Murres (Uria aalge), elegant seabirds with a large local population, gather each Spring to mate and raise their young. Highly dependent on the cold nutrient-rich waters of the California Current, these birds are strictly fish eaters, diving to depths of 180 meters and maybe deeper*, using their wings to “fly” beneath the waves to catch their prey.

Common Murres leave their nest site long before they are fully grown or independent. Jumping from the rocky cliffs, the young seabirds join a parent, almost always their father, at sea to continue feeding, growing and learning. For over 20 million years, Common Murres (also known as Common Guillemots) have lived in this manner, through the ice ages, the warmings, and the shifts in coastline and habitat that have occurred.

[We are in the middle of our October fundraiser and need your help, urgently. We must raise $7000 by the 31st! We are still several thousand dollars away. Please support wildlife rehabilitation and advocacy for the wild on the North Coast and beyond! Click here to donate now.]

Our world is wild. We can’t really say that one part is more or less wild than another, but certainly we can say that the ocean, in the best of times, is a challenging environment. In our current age, the age of human interference with natural cycles so severe that impacts are seen at the planetary scale, the challenges may be insurmountable.

So while it has been normal in each year for Humboldt Wildlife Care Center to admit 30 to 40 Common Murre chicks during the months of July, August and September, due to the a wide assortment of causes, we knew something was amiss when this Summer we admitted only 6 young birds. Just as our typical season of raising orphaned Murre chicks began – late June and early July – it also ended.

A very young Common Murre, on admission day, rests in our incubator, exhausted and nearly starved to death.

After warming up, a full examination is performed. Supplements, such as vitmain B, and anti-parasitical drugs are given.

Each chick is given an identification band so that we can accurately track her or his progress.

Common Murres are colony-nesters and housing them with others helps ease the stress of captive care.

Our patients this year came in very young – each of them was well under 200 grams which is approximately their weight at the time when they usually leave the nest. As you can imagine, a young bird without a parent floating across the coastal waters of the North pacific will be in pretty rough shape by the time she or he is beached. Very thin, dehydrated and close to death, we immediately provide supportive care – fluids and warmth.

It’s a tough thing, having a setback like this at such a young age, and not every orphan will survive. Th early days of care are the worst, and we lost two within their first 24 hours of treatment. In the end, of the 6, we released 3. They spent over two moths with us, first housed indoors under a heat lamp and then moving outdoors to our newly built saltwater pool.

In our newly built seabird pool. Magnetic-drive pumps, unlike most swimming pool pumps, allow us to switch between fresh and saltwater, as the needs of our patients dictates.

Each bird ate nearly 50 night smelt each day. Over the course of two months, that’s a lot of fish!

2016 on our coast was a bad year for Common Murres. There simply hasn’t been enough fish. Lack of fish, leads directly to fewer young seabirds. Common Murres are long lived and can absorb the occasional bad year. If fish populations recover, so will they recover. But current conditions don’t seem to be signs that we are living in a time of recovery.

Agricultural runoff introduces nitrogen in to the sea which increases the frequency of harmful algal blooms. Plastics and other garbage pollutants wreak havoc on the food chain. Overfishing depletes the ocean of the resources which all species depend on to survive and thrive. Rising ocean temperatures as a part of anthropogenic (i.e., human-caused) climate change are destroying the web of life as it has evolved over the vast fabric of time. We have no idea which species will survive, or what the outcome will be for “the wheel’s still in spin.”

Still, for the birds that we admitted, prompt care and proper facilities (provided by your support!) allowed them to recover and be released back to their wild and free lives… which come with no guarantees.

We may not know what our future holds – this has always been true – but we do know that, no matter how much damge there is – no matter the extent of the injuries that we cause – we owe to Mother Earth and all her residents the best possible care for the victims of human industry, human carelessness and human indifference. We do what we can with what we have and without you, we’d have nothing.

Volunteer staff takes our three Common Murre patients to the bay for release.

As birds who spend nearly their entire lives on water, they don’t walk very well. We place them directly in the bay.

We do what we can. Yes it feels good to help. It’s one of the ways that we know that helping is the right thing to do.

Paddling out to deeper waters to join others out beyond the old formation. From 150 gram babies to nearly grown adults over 900 grams, this is the second chance that you provided with your support.

Your support means the difference between these birds dying on a beach and getting a second chance. Please help. We need to raise $7000 before the end of October. Help us help our wild neighbors. Click here to Donate Now. Thank you!

All photos: Laura Corsiglia/ Bird Ally X

*Diving Depths of Four Alcids (1984)Piatt, John F.; Nettleship, David N.

Bird Ally X Celebrates Seventh Anniversary!

Posted on October 1, 2016October 2, 2016 by Monte Merrick

Seven years ago, six wildlife rehabilitators*, friends and colleagues, began meeting to develop a workshop on aquatic bird care geared toward other rehabilitators. Each had worked extensively with aquatic birds, including providing care for large numbers at once during catastrophic events such as oil spills, harmful algal blooms, and disease outbreaks, such as avian botulism, that can be driven by environmental conditions like drought.

As one of the six, I can tell you that our primary motivation was to help make certain that hard-won knowledge didn’t end with specialization – that life-saving knowledge spread through our profession.

Across our state, our region, our continent and the world, wildlife rehabilitators work, often alone, with whatever species winds up on their doorstep. Knowledge of aquatic bird care at that time was mostly centralized, in the hands of experts – experts who had learned at the cost of many lost wild lives, experts who had access to money provided by oil companies legally bound to pay for damages (wildlife casualties) they’d caused.

We knew first-hand that many rehabilitators didn’t have the experience or the education to provide quality care for aquatic birds. Often rehabilitators sought help, advice and instruction – mostly they were encouraged to transfer their patients to expert with the knowledge, and even more importantly, the facilities to treat these patients with such unique needs.

It wasn’t long before we realized that our goal was much larger than a workshop could accomplish. Even seven years ago, it was easy to see that our future was quite rocky. Climate disruption, conflict with the oil empire, rising disparity in wealth – our world was clearly in turmoil.

It seems easy to imagine that funding for aquatic bird rehabilitation might evaporate, especially as coastal cities would be forced to divert resources toward infrastructure to cope with rising seas, as well as other consequences of our industrial age. In short, if whole oceans are dying, who will pay for the rehabilitation of marine animals such as Common Murres or Brown Pelicans.

On September 22, 2009, Bird Ally X was conceived in turmoil and hatched as a remedy.

Bird Ally X delivered our first workshop in 2010, An Introduction to Aquatic Bird Rehabilitation. Initially, workshop attendees were given a 50-page booklet as part of the course. By 2012, that booklet had been expanded to become our currently available book also titled, An Introduction to Aquatic Bird Rehabilitation. We’ve now delivered the workshop to hundred of rehabilitators around the country. Over the last seven years we’ve produced additional classes and workshops on different components of aquatic bird care, as well as focusing on different species of aquatic birds and their particular needs in care. We’ve developed workshops on the ethics of wildlife rehabilitation, on housing for wild patients, as well as being effective at helping people over the phone resolve perceived conflicts with their wild neighbors peacefully. We’ve produced materials for co-existing with aquatic birds and other wildlife for Federal and State agencies as well as our general community.

Many of our co-founders have served and still do as volunteer board members for state and national professional rehabilitation associations. Being able to work with our colleagues around the state and country to improve wildlife care as well as provide information that rehabilitators need and seek is an important part of our mission.

During this time, we have continued in our daily work of wildlife rehabilitation, either as staff at other organizations, on emergency response efforts around the continent, as well as producing educational and advocacy materials for collaborative efforts with other organizations and government agencies.

In 2014, Bird Ally X launched an online petition aimed at the United States Department of Agriculture’s highly controversial Wildlife Services, a shadowy, unaccountable program that is a sort of secret police against wild animals. The petition received over 175,000 signatures!

However five years ago we added to our mission in a significant way.

In 2011, with 3 of 6 co-founders living in Humboldt County, we were tipped off that young Brown Pelicans were sighted, contaminated, soaking wet and struggling at the public boat launch in Crescent City, about 90 miles north of Humboldt Bay. we investigated and discovered that not only were there young Pelicans in trouble in Crescent city, but all along the North Cast from Shelter Cove into Oregon. Since it was late in the fishing season, the problem soon ended for the year, but not before we’d rescued, cleaned and rehabilitated over 50 Pelicans who’d been contaminated by fish waste.

Fish waste going directly into the ocean at the public boat launch in Shelter Cove, California. Brown Pelicans and other birds were contaminated directly by this unorthodox waste disposal.

In order to meet that challenge, Bird Ally X partnered with the local wildlife care center, who we’d been assisting in small ways for years. With the facility they had in Bayside, we built the necessary infrastructure to take care of aquatic birds in Humboldt County – allowing for the first time in HWCC history for injured aquatic birds to remain in the region to receive care! That partnership led to BAX assuming HWCC as part of our organization, as of 2013. Now HWCC is the largest single aspect of our efforts. We treat over 1200 wild patients each year, and work every day of the year to provide humane conflict resolution for thousands of other neighbors human and wild.

Now, after seven years, we are still seeking new avenues to reach our colleagues and our community to improve the lives and care for injured and orphaned wild animals, to partner with other organizations so that we can prevent injuries in the first place (an ounce of prevention!!). Our work is far from complete. With the addition of HWCC to our organization we have a working lab for developing affordable and achievable techniques and solutions to the problems of shoestring-budget wildlife rehabilitation. We have an internship program that allows us to train the next generation of wildlife rehabilitators.

We have an education program that brings a message of humane co-existence to classrooms and organizations across our diverse community.

And most importantly, we have the capacity to provide care and save wild lives. As we continue to grapple with the dictates of our work and strategize the future of our efforts, I’d like to close this retrospective with the most important part of the last seven years – the support we’ve received and the wild neighbors we’ve helped!

Want to help? Great! We need your support! Click here to Donate Now!

*the six are – Shannon Riggs, DVM; January Bill; Vann Masvidal; Marie Travers; Laura Corsiglia; Monte Merrick

All images belong to Bird Ally X, thanks!

Much maligned, but so refined, an elegant Skunk is released.

Posted on September 18, 2016September 18, 2016 by Monte Merrick

Nearly three weeks ago we admitted a patient for care, a juvenile, very thin, suffering from parasites, and barely able to stand. At this time of year, struggling young wild mammals are a relatively common patient for us. Youngsters run into trouble, on their own, and once weakened, succumb to all sorts of perils. Internal parasites, dogs and cats are life threatening to a youngster, and if you happen to be one of the most unloved and misunderstood animals who commonly live near the world of industrial civilization, people can be the biggest threat you’ll face – which is why this young Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis) was very lucky that he stumbled into the backyard of someone who took pity on him instead of freaking out.

Freaking out when seeing a skunk is pretty common. Of course, skunks are relatively harmless. While they may suffer from rabies, though it’s not common, their only real threat is their ability to leave a lingering pungent aroma that most of Mother Earth’s children find unpleasant. Consider that the next time you pass the lingering odor of skunk dead on the side of the highway who’s only crime was trying cross the road, and who’s only defense against a thundering automobile was his unique musky spray.

Those who keep chickens, of course, need to provide their animals with a safe enclosure that keeps out all predators, if they wish them to not be eaten. Most wild animals are drawn to human households by food, water or, in the right season, an attractive den site. It is as much our responsibility to keep our wild neighbors safe from conflict with us as it is to keep our livestock, pets and property safe from damage caused by nature that is only doing what needs to be done for survival.

This young skunk needed only anti-parasitical medicine and safe place to eat a natural diet and regain his body mass. After a few days he was stable enough to be housed outdoors. After a few weeks, he was fit and ready to return to his free and wild life. We released him into the same area he was found. As you can see in the following phone pics, he made short work of dashing for cover…

And then he was gone….

Your support makes our work providing care for our wild neighbors who’ve become orphaned or injured due to our built world possible! Without you, neither this skunk, nor the other 15 skunks we’ve treated in 2016, nor the other 900 wild animals, as well as the thousands of wild animals we’ve helped by counseling people in the middle of a conflict with the principles of humane co-existence with the wild animals and Mother Earth, would have gotten the help they needed and deserved. Thank YOU!!!

We are still $5000 dollars away from our critical goal of $7000 raised for the month of September. You can help us reach it by donating today!

Big Release Day!

Posted on September 3, 2016September 3, 2016 by Monte Merrick

This holiday weekend got off to a great start; filled with the best outcome for our work- multiple releases!

Friday we released 11 of our patients back to their free and wild lives after recovering from being orphaned or injured.

Four Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) juveniles were released. These birds were siblings whose nest was illegally removed by a maintenance person at the request of the homeowner. It’s a crime to remove a migratory songbird’s nest. Most migratory birds are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Sadly, this nest was the second one for this Barn Swallow pair to be destroyed this summer by the same person! Both sets of babies were brought to us to be raised. Of course we explained the law, so hopefully next summer, if the parent birds return to the same location, they might have a chance to raise their own babies!

Also released was a Great Egret (Ardea alba) who’d been found in a ditch, covered in mud and very thin. After a two weeks of care, this bird was doing very well, using our aviary for built specifically for herons and egrets, as well as dabbling ducks. Check out the video of the heron’s release:

A few days ago we admitted for care both a Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) and a Virginia Rail (Rallus limicola) who’d collided with windows.

Window strikes can be deadly, especially for a larger bird like a woodpecker, who’s mass increases the force of the impact. There are several things you can do to minimize the risk of a bird colliding with your windows, including stickers, sprays, objects or anything that can make the window either visible or inaccessible. You can go to Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s website for more ideas on making your windows less dangerous.

Fortunately, both the Woodpecker and the Rail were only disoriented and stunned by their collisions. Only a few days in care were required before they were released. Here’s a video of the Woodpecker:

We also released two Western Gulls (Larus occidentalis) One, an adult, was found unable to fly in a backyard in the community of King Salmon on the edge of Humboldt Bay. She’d been there for a few days, eating chicken scratch. Weak and very thin, the bird was enthusiastic about the fish diet we served. After several days in care she was flying in our gull aviary. After 3 weeks she was ready for freedom!

We met our August goal of $7000! Thank you!! Our goal for September is to build on that, pay summer bills and prepare for winter. You can help! Please click here to DONATE NOW! Thank you!

Released with the adult was a juvenile gull who we admitted several weeks ago. His parents had the misfortune of nesting on the deck of a sail boat in the San Francisco Bay area. When the boat sailed for Humboldt midsummer, they brought this baby with them. Since therew as obviously no way to get himback to his parents, we provided fish and safe housing. Once he was ready to fly we moved him into the aviary with the adult. Both were released on the same day, together.

Here’s a fuzzy video that does at least show their excitement upon release from captivity.

And that’s not all! We also released a California King Snake (Lampropeltis getula californiae) and the last Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) in care from our summer ducklings.

The King Snake had been wrongfully held captive. He only needed time to prove that he knew what his natural food should be and that he was acclimated to life outdoors.

As a late season baby, the Mallard duckling had been alone for a few weeks in care. But released, she was soon in the comapny of her kind at the Arcata marsh, where food is plentiful and the chance to socialize and prepare for winter as a proper Mallard will finish her education.

Each of these wild neighbors would have died without your support. Each of them received the best care we could provide at the only available wildlife clinic on the North coast. Thanks to your generosity and your love for the wild, we are here every single day of the year. If you’d like to help us meet the challenge of our mission, donate today! Thank you!!

Last chance to help pay our August bills

Posted on August 31, 2016August 31, 2016 by Monte Merrick

Right now we are $1800 short of our August expenses. We need to raise $7000 dollars this month. Reaching this goal is critical to the success of our mission. Can you help? $1800 will cover our rent and water bill, our electric bill and our part of our fish bill. Long term, of course we’ll need more, but right now, $1800 will go a long way toward keeping our mission on track! Help us continue to provide care and advocacy for our wild neighbors on the Redwood Coast! Please help, you’re all we’ve got! Thank you!!!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW! THANKS

Letting Nature Take ‘Its’ Course.

Posted on August 29, 2016September 20, 2016 by Monte Merrick

It’s a common expression: let nature takes its course – and we learn it while we ‘re young. It can be used in many ways, but in the end, what it always means is that the best outcome can be achieved by doing nothing – that left alone, the inevitable outcome is the preferred outcome.

As wildlife rehabilitators, we hear this expression every day.

Two months ago, a man called from somewhere out Highway 36 – he’d found a fawn by the side of the road with a dead doe, presumably the fawn’s mother, most likely hit by a vehicle. The caller had already talked to a local government agent to find help. “The ranger said it would be better to let nature take it’s course,” he said, “but I couldn’t just leave the little guy there. Will you take him?”

Of course we would. And we did.

The fawn is doing well, is now being weaned from a bottle to foraging for greens, in the company of other fawns, untamed. If all continues to go well, he will soon be released back into a wild herd.

Two weeks ago we released an Osprey who’d been hit by a vehicle and picked up from the shoulder of a two-lane blacktop that skirts the western edge of Lassen National Park. The woman who found the bird talked to an employee at a park information booth who told her the best thing she could do was put the grounded bird back and, yes, let nature take its course. She said she couldn’t do that, so the employee found her a box and gave her a phone number for a veterinarian in Redding. When she got to Redding, the veterinary clinic wasn’t open (nor were they permitted to treat wildlife).

So she found us on the internet. Since she was already headed to the coast she was able to bring the Osprey to our clinic. It took all day, but eventually we had the bird in care. While in relatively good shape with no external injuries, the Osprey was slow to respond, seeming dazed. Within a couple days, however, in the safety of our clinic, the plunge-diving raptor regained his wits and was flying well and in a very dissatisfied mood.

As soon as he was ready, our staff took him on the 5 hour drive back to Lassen, back to his lake next to the volcano. He needed nothing more than some time in care – a safe haven where food and safety are provided.

If you put the Osprey back on the side of the road and “let nature take its course” – disoriented and grounded by his collision with a vehicle – it’s predictable that the Osprey will die. With no treatment, who knows how long it will take for him to recover his wits, if ever – and with no food or water, his slow decline gathers momentum until he’s too weak to seek shelter, let alone regain his ability to meet his own needs. Another car, another predator, or a slow death by dehydration is as certain as night follows day.

If you provide care – hydration, food, anti-inflammatory medicine, a safe aviary, reduced stress – and let Nature take her course – the bird stands a very good chance of healing and getting a second chance.

Do all of the animals who we treat recover? Of course not. Many animals do not respond to treatment – the antibiotics are too late to prevent the death of a Barn Swallow bitten by a house cat, the neurological trauma that leaves the Raven with paralyzed legs doesn’t resolve. More often, the patient’s injuries are simply too severe. The only course we can take is to humanely end the suffering. Any hunter can tell you that you don’t let an animal wander off to a slow death from the wounds that you’ve caused. You don’t gut-shoot a deer and then “let nature take its course.” Wild animals who’ve been injured by the human-built world at least have the right to a humane death.

The person in uniform, or the biologist, or the front desk clerk, who recommends letting nature take its course may not be able to diagnose the injury, may not be aware that treatment is available, may not be informed at all on this topic. Often the person functioning as the authority is merely parroting a worn phrase we all know so well.

‘Let nature take its course’ is not a fact-based recommendation, it is not science based. Now of course there are many ways to use this phrase in many situations, but to be clear, when we’re talking about injured and orphaned wild animals, letting nature take its course means not taking responsibility for the injury and suffering our society has caused. It is irresponsible even though it parades as the dispassionate, wider-scoped perspective, not the uneducated sentimental feelings of compassion. And in this way, Nature is made out to be the culprit – Nature is cruel, and the compassionate person is a fool. A logging truck full of trees hits a deer and kills her, leaving her young stranded – too small to survive. The local ranger says the fawn should be left alone, that we should let nature take its course, and it is Nature who is cruel.

Meanwhile, who destroys Nature foolishly? Is it the person who blunders in picking up a fledgling sparrow thinking that the bird was in trouble and not simply in an awkward phase of learning to fly? Or a bison calf? Or, is it the builders of pipelines, the levelers of forests, the polluters of the sea? Why is it only fitting for nature to take its course when an individual is suffering an injury caused by industrial society?

And there is this: the heavy line drawn between the human and the natural, between society and the wild is religious, not scientific. It is a belief, not a finding. Who among us has the hubris to say where that line runs, or if it exists at all.

In the end, ‘letting nature take its course’ is a fallacy, an error, a hypocrisy, a lie.

Right now, in Washington state, wolves are slated to be slaughtered for having killed cattle that were put out to graze at the wolves’ den site on public lands. No cries from the biologists, the wardens, or the clerks now to let nature take its course – no cries at all.

We are in the last days of our August fundraiser and we have not yet reached our necessary goal of $7000. We have nearly $2000 to go!! Click here to help us pay our bills and continue to provide our region with its only native wildlife hospital. Without your help, we wouldn’t be here! Thank you!

A Young Raven’s Recovery

Posted on August 14, 2016August 14, 2016 by Monte Merrick

Some species can’t help but become special to people. Especially if that species is the one who brought people into the world in the first place, as is the case with Raven:

“According to Haida legend, the Raven found himself alone one day on Rose Spit beach, on Haida Gwaii {ed. briefly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands}. Suddenly, he saw an extraordinary clamshell at his feet, and protruding from it were a number of small creatures. The Raven coaxed them to leave the shell to join him in his wonderful world. Some were hesitant at first, but eventually, overcome by curiosity, they emerged from the partly open clamshell to become the first Haida.” (more here)

Because of this existential debt, whenever it happens that we admit a Raven for care at our wildlife clinic in Humboldt County, our mission to serve all native wildlife in need or jeopardy is brought into even higher relief.

This young Raven (Corvus corax) was just learning to fly when her rescuers found her struggling on the ground with what appeared to them to be a broken wing. They put her into their chicken coop for safekeeping where they said the young bird’s parents saw her and stayed near. They brought the fledgling in to our clinic the next day.

[We need to meet our goal for August of $7000 – we have $5000 to go! You can help! Every donation, from $5 to $500 helps! Please contribute today!]

Fortunately, the Raven had suffered no broken bones. We did find a couple of puncture wounds, including one on her right wing that had damaged a few feathers, that we cleaned and treated with antibiotics, but nothing was found that wouldn’t heal in time.

On examination no broken bones or other traumatic injuries were noted.

In fact, her wounds healed relatively quickly. Less than two weeks after the Raven was admitted we contacted the rescuers to arrange an attempt to re-unite the fledgling with her family.

When she was admitted, the Raven was not old enough to be on her own, still requiring parental care. After her wounds had healed, we still felt that more time with her family would be necessary. Re-uniting corvids (Corvidae is the family of birds that include Ravens, Crows, Magpies, Jays and Nutcrackers) is a fairly easy thing to do. All corvids have strong family bonds as well as strong bonds of affinity (friendships). If the parents’ location is known, returning one of their kids is a very straightforward proposition. Find the parents; let the young one out of the box where they can see her or him; stand back and watch. As with most families, they are excited to be together again.

Unfortunately, for this Raven, the parents were not in the vicinity. We spent a few hours looking, but night was falling and without knowing with certainty that her parents were present, even though the rescuers had said that they’d seen them earlier in the day, we couldn’t leave the youngster to fend for herself overnight. Reluctantly we took her back to our clinic.

We had planned to try another re-unite attempt, but after a few more days, a troubling development was seen. A scab had formed on the upper bill (maxilla) of the Raven that had some similarities to avian pox lesions. Avian pox, while not threatening to people, is a very common, highly communicable disease among the corvids of Humboldt County. Making the situation worse, the Raven was housed with four Steller’s Jays. Avian pox is treatable, but it is definitely not something that we’d want to spread to our other patients. We put the Raven and the Jays under strict quarantine until we could determine if they had contracted the virus.

Raven and one of four Steller’s Jays in an aviary under quarantine. Eventually, the quarantine was lifted and all birds were given a clean bill of health.

Our new aviary is good place to learn to fly, but a bad place to live forever!

We kept these birds of a feather together in quarantine for 2 weeks. Not only did did they not show any signs of the virus, the scab on the Raven revealed an infected pocket of encapsulated puss (ick!) that stemmed from her original injuries. The Jays were released and the Raven spent another 10 days being treated.

Through the ten days of treatment, this Raven was no doubt frustrated. A juvenile with boundless energy and enthusiasm, what her body needed, recuperation, and what her mind needed, stimulation, movement, learning in the wild, were at odds. We gave her plenty to eat and monitored her condition closely. Finally, the swollen pocket was significantly reduced in size – she’d been off antibiotics for several days and was improving. We decided that we should consider her for release.
What this Raven doesn’t know is that this will be the last time she will ever suffer the indignities of the net!
A thorough examination on release is the bookend of the thorough examination we give on admission. Here her feet are inspected to be sure that no captivity-related problems are going to interfere with her ability to thrive in the wild. Captivity is very hard on wild animals. We resort to it only when their lives depend on treatment.
Is there anything more beautiful than a healthy young Raven?

The Raven passed her release evaluation with flying colors! We took her back to the neighborhood of her family, even though they may have moved on. Her siblings, her parents still might frequent this area however and there remains a good chance she will re-join them. But for now, she is ready to take on the world with her own skills.
All Ravens think “outside the box.”

Freed from us and far enough way to stop and consider what next she might do with her hard won freedom!

Over the course of time immemorial, no doubt Ravens have had the opportunity to question the wisdom of bringing people into the world. Even with all that our society, and some individuals have done to Ravens, and the wild – the injuries, the killing, the destruction and so on, we hope that we can somehow redeem ourselves in their eyes – that we can find ways to mitigate our crimes against Mother Earth, and restore some balance to our relationship. It isn’t easy. And without you we couldn’t even try. Thank you for helping us make things right with this young Raven, and all Ravens, and all of our patients.

If you’d like to help, please check out our volunteer opportunities, and also, please contribute to our August fundraising goal of $7000. We are halfway through the month and still have $5000 to go! You can make a difference. All contributions go directly to our mission of providing direct care for injured and orphaned wild animals and helping reduce human/wild conflicts as well as helping other rehabilitators across the state and nation provide quality care. Your support means everything to us! Thank you!!!

All photos: Laura Corsiglia/BAX

After the Fall, a Winged Climb Back to the Heights – a Screech-owl’s Second Chance

Posted on August 11, 2016August 11, 2016 by Monte Merrick

Most everywhere that you find people, you find wild animals that are born into a world that isn’t the one evolution prepared them for … skyscrapers, cars and trucks, industrial agriculture, deer netting, cats, wind farms, deforestation, ocean pollution, radiation, – the breakneck expansion of the built world over the last 200 years has re-made huge swaths of Mother Earth, and her children, all of us, pay the price. We all know.

[We are gaining on our August fundraising goal of $7000! So far we’ve raised over nearly $1500! Thank you! If you want to help us make our goal please click on our Donate button and follow the prompts – you can donate today online, or send a check in the mail! Thank you for making our work possible!]

Bird Ally X/Humboldt Wildlife Care Center admits for care those wild animals who are found injured in the conflict. A Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) who’d been swatted by a roaming house cat in Rio Dell, a young River Otter (Lontra canadensis) from Crescent City whose mother had been hit by a car, or an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) with tail and flight feathers singed bare when he landed on powerlines and a fire broke out – each of these are recent cases. This is wildlife rehabilitation. The nestling Western Screech-owl (Megascops kennicottii) pictured above had fallen from his nest in Rohner Park, Fortuna.

Thin and dehydrated upon admission, the Western screech-owl quickly accepted the offered bits of mouse we fed, gaining weight daily.

This isn’t the first time we’ve raised a young Screech-owl found in that park. Up and away from the heavily used open area of Rohner Park is a forested low ridge of old Redwoods that makes an attractive fragment of habitat. Screech-owls are among our many wild neighbors who call it their home. Walking trails weave through the trees.

Ways in which we change the forest with our more urbane usage can wreak havoc on a nest of owls. Understory is cleared for trails, for safety, from repeated off trail excursions, leaving nothing to catch the first explorations of nestling owl, branching out, you might say. A fall to the ground leaves the youngster stranded in a strange world with only one outcome: death. Predator, machine, starvation, or even well-intended wrong actions from people – one of these will claim the owl. The only chance this owl had was to be found by someone who knew what to do.

The forested ridge of Rohner Park, Fortuna, home for Western Screech-owls and many more wild neighbors.

A regular walker at Rohner Park, a gentleman who knows the park well, found the owl at the base of a tall Redwood. He scooped the downy little one up into a box and delivered the box to park staff. They called us. Fortunately, we have a dedicated volunteer in Fortuna who was able to drive the owl to our clinic.

Growing up!

Soon more useful feathers for the future began to grow in. We have to wonder how things were back at the nest. Year-round, we admit adult Screech-owls who have been hit by cars. Of course some of these adults had active nests with young ones who may not survive the loss of this parent. We work in the trenches, where the machinery tears into the earth. We treat the injured, we grieve the losses, we struggle to do right by their orphans and raise them to be competent, free and able to thrive. And if possible, we retrun babies to their families.

As soon as the owl was eating on his own, nearly full grown, full feathered and sure footed (and still on the smaller side of average, so presumably a male), he was not yet flying well, he was what some call a “brancher.” A brancher doesn’t need the nest anymore, which mean that we could more easily re-unite him with his parents. All we need to find is his family.

BAX Wildlife Rehabilitator, Lucinda Adamson briefly holds the owlet so that he can call, hopefully bringing his parents to ivestigate. This method can be a very effective way to locate families. Imagine our own children calling, who we’ve missed.

Unfortunately, the annual rodeo was at the park, and the noise and disruption was too great – no Screech-owls were seen or heard. We had to bring the young owl back to the clinic. Given the activities planned for the park through the busy summer, we decided to continue his care until he was able to fend for himself. A few more weeks of privacy and mice and the chance to learn to hear, to see, to swoop, to clutch, to kill, to eat, to live and he would be ready to return – and by then the rodeo, the car show, and other events, would be over.

Now, we housed the owl with natural forest items, evergreen branches and a leaf litter floor where we could hide food, and where he might learn to detect prey. Eventually we moved the owl to a large outside aviary, where thrived on his own, learning to hunt and learning to fly, with little interference from us except for weight checks, housekeeping and feeding.

Eventually after more than 6 weeks in care, we had done for him what we could. The only improvement we could offer him was freedom.
An excellent flier now, his ability to evade the net was impressive. Soon his skills will open up the dense branches of the forest for his silent passage.

The aviary of his youth will soon be only a memory.

At the end of the workday, BAX staff took the young owl back to Rohner Park. The sun was setting and the park was a normal park – families played in the playground – gunfire from a nearby shooting range sounded – but no large events – just the regular daily life that will always be a part of this owl’s experience.

We release our patients into the real world. It is unquestionable that many of the challenges that this owl face are not just, they are not right. But they are real. Nature always takes her own course, even when she is thwarted, when she is injured, when she is smashed into pieces. And this owl is a part of her and will thrive, we hope, and raise owls of his own some day, here in Rohner Park, and the struggle for life, and for co-existence, and for more will continue, here in our small corner of the wild blue world.

A cautious young owl hopefully grows to be an old wise one.

The young owl did not want to leave the box after first opening. It’s good when a juvenile shows reluctance to venture into a new territory or new situation. Caution is not a bad course of action, especially when you are completely ignorant of what awaits. The owl was offered a stick to perch on in the box and he waited for over 30 minutes before flying. As the light faded, he flew higher andhigher into the canopy. Until at last it was too dark for him to be seen.

The young owl’s first flight, free in the wild.

Perching relatively near after his first wild flight, the youngster gets his bearings.

At dusk he was perched much farther above – alive to the night.

His family of owls, if they are intact, will likely find this young male – and if they don’t we have given him the best education we could for him to thrive on his own. And nature herself has equipped him for life as an owl far better than anyone else ever could.

Your support made his care possible. Your support provides the care for all of our wild patients. Thank you for making it happen. Every gift helps. $5 fed this owl for a day. $500 paid for his entire care – food, electric, gas, medicine. While our patients’ gratitude may be uncertain, ours is deep and heartfelt.

All photos: Laura Corsiglia / Bird Ally X

A Hawk Discovers You Can Go Home Again

Posted on July 31, 2016August 1, 2016 by Monte Merrick

In mid-June, a very ordinary thing happened. Someone called our clinic to ask for help with a bird who’d fallen from a high nest. Typically, we’d like to get birds who fall from their nest back to their families right away. But this case had some complications. First, the bird was in Petrolia, which is part of the area we serve, but is a couple of hours away and second, the nest location wasn’t known.

[Thank YOU!! – We made it to $5000 by the end of July! And a few hundred dollars more!! your support makes our work possible! Our August goal of $7000 will allow us to buy fish to feed our growing seabird caseload, as well as continue providing care for all of this season’s orphaned wild babies – raccoons! swallows! hawks! jays! and more! Please contribute what you can! Every donation helps! Click here to donate now!]

The bird happened to be a Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus), an easily recognized member of our community. These magnificent small hawks can be seen along almost any rural road, working over almost any open field, perched in nearby trees, hunting for primarily rodents along the edges of almost everything. Each year we typically raise at least one of these hawks, and sometimes more. This hawk was on the larger side so we imagined that she was female.

Without knowing the location of the nest, there was little chance for us to return this wayward nestling to her family. Even raising her until fledging wasn’t going to be enough, because these birds depend on their parents after they’ve left the nest for food until they are able to hunt. So we’d have to keep this bird in care until she was able to recognize and eat real prey. Fortunately, our patient was an older nestling, close to being ready for flight.

Immediately, the hawklet began to devour all the food we offered, thawed mice, thawed rats, basically any small animal we fed. And we watched as real world feathers grew in and the bird changed into a sleek, beautiful juvenile.

In the aviary with another young raptor, the Red-shouldered hawk (on the left) is alert and wary.

After 6 weeks, and after she demonstrated her ability to hunt, we returned the hawk to Petrolia and released her. Of course we hoped that she would find family members and remember enough of the area that she’d learned from the view from the nest, but in any case we were confident that this young raptor would be able to fend for herself.
Capturing the hawk from the aviary for her release exam. Every examination puts a great deal of stress on a patient. We reduce this handling as much as possible.
Keeping raptor feet healthy in an environment where they spend more than an ordinary amount of time perched in one location is important. After 6 weeks in captivity this hawk’s feet are in perfect condition.

Her eyes, mouth, hearing – every aspect of this hawk screamed “Release me!” So we did.

It’s a long and stunningly beautiful drive to Petrolia, the human capital of the Lost Coast.

Without knowledge of the nest location, a release site was chosen based on proximity to Petrolia and suitability of habitat – the presence of trees, open land, and the Mattole River made this a good site.

Release!

Our patient in flight, over the home she was meant to have.

Here is a very short video that really shows the explosive speed of this young hawk…

The story doesn’t stop here. Within a few minutes from release, the young former patient postioned herself on the highest tree in the area and began calling. Within a few more minutes, an adult Red-shouldered Hawk arrived on the scene.
Perched and calling, soon two other Red-shouldered Hawks, at least one of them an adult, arrived. Was the adult a parent to this youngster? Well, we can’t say for sure. We believe so. One thing we know with certainty: they left the area together. A re-united family is the likely explanation.

The last shot gotten as the young bird followed the adults into the trees beyond view.

This hawk’s return to freedom is one of the important outcomes of your support for our work. More than rehabilitation is needed, of course. These hawks still must live in a world where casual violence, habitat destruction, rodenticides, lead and myriad other non-natural challenges make life in the wild more precarious than it should be. Your love for the wild and respect for Mother Earth also goes a long way toward preserving the world and celebrating life.

Want to be part of our life-saving work? Please donate today. Your contribution goes directly to the care of injured and orphaned wild animals on the North Coast and beyond. Thank you!!!

all photos: Laura Corsiglia/ Bird Ally X

Feathers Badly Singed in Fire, Osprey Fitted For Second Chance.

Posted on July 28, 2016July 28, 2016 by Monte Merrick

Earlier this summer, we admitted a weakened and burned Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) who’d been the victim of a nest fire northeast of Weaverville, well over 100 miles away from our clinic.

[July is nearly over and we still need your help reaching our goal of $5000 raised by the end of the month! Please donate! And thank you to everyone who has already! ]

The burns that the bird suffered had a good prognosis, and generally speaking, the “fish hawk” was in good shape, except for one critical component: all of the Osprey’s primaries, or flight feathers, were singed beyond usefulness, as were all of his tail feathers.

Without these feathers, our patient couldn’t fly, let alone plunge feet first from the sky into Trinity Lake, and then muscle his way back from the water into the air, carrying off a large fish for a meal for himself or his young.

In this condition, the Osprey was far from releasable. We gave him a safe aviary and plenty of fish and looked for signs that he was entering his molt cycle, the time of year when birds renew their feathers… Osprey do replace them at this time of year, so we hoped for a natural cure.

After a few weeks though it became clear that waiting for a molt was going to take too long for this bird. So we turned to another option.

Imping is a process by which old feathers can can be replaced. Of course, donor feathers of the same species are required. In February 2012 we’d released a Thayer’s gull whose primary feathers on one wing had been crushed. Using similar gull flight feathers we successfully imped them to the cut shaft of the damaged feathers. This isn’t surgery. This is more like furniture repair, or life-saving hair extensions.

The success of that patient’s treatment led us to start a feather bank, just as there are blood banks and organ donors. Back in April of 2014, we’d admitted an Osprey for care who’d suffered a severe humerus fracture. Humane euthanasia was the only appropriate treatment. Once the bird’s suffering was over, we removed a complete set of primary feathers and tail feathers. Stored against damage from elements or insects, these feathers were in the same condition, over two years later, as when we’d first collected them.

Now this Osprey of 2016 will get a second chance.

Complete set of the primary flight feathers for the right wing of an adult Osprey. Flight feathers are called remiges, a latin word combining the word for oar and the verb to drive – it is accurate to think of these feathers as the oars birds use to paddle through the air.

First new flight feather, alongside the damaged one.

A heated scalpel blade easily slices through the keratin shaft of the feather.

A small dowel is glued into the hollow shaft.

The same is repeated on the other side.

We stopped after replacing five feathers on the right side. Being handled for any length of time is very stressful for wild animals. We gave the Osprey a 20 minute break. Also it was time for our baby opossums to be fed and we needed the room!

We came back and repeated the process, but on the left side.

After finishing the five feathers on the left, the Osprey got another break. Each wing had taken approximately 30 minutes. The feather imping team could use the break too. The task isn’t technically difficult, but the stress level is high for everyone. After the break, that sad tail gets attention.

Because one of the Osprey’s center tail feathers has grown in, we decided to replace only the outside four on each side.

As the primary flight feathers are known scientifically as remiges, the tail feathers are known as rectrices. Rectrice, from the Latin, rector, or helmsman, rudder. So the flight feathers are the oars and the tail feathers are the rudder. And the bird who uses them is a sky kayaker.

After some time, we’ll evaluate for replacing the center damaged feathers as well. If we don’t need to, that would be terrific. Reducing the stress of our patients is a critical component of our care and we strive for the least invasive treatment possible.

This bird’s care isn’t over. He’s not even out of the woods. To be released we need to be confident that this bird will be able to survive on his own. After the full set of feathers has been imped, the strength and durability of the glue bond will be tested in our aviary. Once reasonably assured that the bond will hold the rigors of freedom, it won’t be long before this Osprey is growing in his own replacement feathers on his own time, in his own home – the wild.

Feathers are worth an entire life of study! An amazing evolutionary development that not only allows flight, but also allows a life at sea, a life in the arctic, a life in equatorial regions… closely related to hair, nails, claws and scales, feathers are a natural wonder the importance of which can’t be overstated. Want to learn more about feathers – start here.

Your support makes our work possible. Without you, this Osprey, as well as the baby Opossums who were in this room in an incubator just a few feet away during the entire procedure, would have no hope, no second chance. Want to help keep our work going? You can donate here.

All photos: Laura Corsiglia/Bird Ally X.