10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2015

The sharp strings are a menace to passing birds – especially kites and other raptors – who cannot see them and sometimes suffer grievous, if not fatal, wounds. The first injured bird Nadeem and Mohammad ever found was a Black Kite.

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Wildlife Rehabilitation India Rescue Wounded 263

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 31, 2014

Oh, do I love it when I can get somebody else to write my blog for me. This one comes from Vonda Lee Morton, a wildlife rehabilitator who runs Laurens Wildlife Rescue outside Atlanta. She and I have never met in person, but thanks to the internet we’ve been through all kinds of wildlife emergencies together.

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Wildlife Wildlife Rehabilitation Atlanta Turkey 197

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 12, 2016

Today’s blog was written by Kathy Hershey, co-founder of Utopia Wildlife Rehabilitators in Hope, Indiana. There’s a huge bird chasin’ the kids around the trailer park! By far, calls about the ‘big black bird” topped all the calls they received each day. Vultures are very intelligent, social birds.

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Wildlife Rehabilitation Mice Indiana Game 142

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2015

This blog was written by Marge Gibson, co-founder of Raptor Education Group, Inc. My work as a wildlife rehabilitator over the past forty-five years has allowed me a unique perspective on a disturbing trend. But the fact is nature has little to do with most problems facing native birds. The difference seems obvious.

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Wildlife Rehabilitation Bald Eagle Rescue Wildlife 189

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 26, 2016

This guest blog was written by Debbie Souza-Pappas, the director and founder of Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation in Price, Utah. It seemed whoever set the trap had ‘released’ the injured eagle upon finding him, as the bird could not have freed himself without the loss of the entire foot.

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Eagles Wildlife Rehabilitation Utah Vet 157

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 7, 2016

This blog is written by writer, photographer, and animal advocate Ingrid Taylar. Years ago, I became a wildlife volunteer and advocate because of a cat who caught a bird. Back then, I didn’t know enough about birds, but I knew a lot about cats. I surprised her and she dropped the bird before vaporizing again.

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Cats Stray Cat Stray Wildlife Rehabilitation 218

10,000 Birds

JUNE 5, 2015

Wildlife rehabilitators are a multi-tasking lot. Not only do we take care of zillions of injured and orphaned birds/mammals/reptiles/whatever, we also have to deal with and educate the public. I mean, how could he know it was a merlin, but not know it didn’t eat bird seed?”. The baffling, mind-boggling public.

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Squirrels Hamburgers Chickens Wildlife Rehabilitation 250

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

There is no excuse for putting a banner photo like this on a renowned birding site. It’s just that when summer is over and most wildlife rehabilitators are fried, this is the kind of thing that will make most of us fall to our knees, choking with laughter, tears spurting from our eyes. We do real birds.”.

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Wildlife Rehabilitation Turtles Turkey Wildlife 226

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2014

“Here’s an idea for a blog,” wrote Donna Osburn, a wildlife rehabilitator from Kentucky. What’s your best misidentification of a bird?”. Rehabbers are constantly receiving birds misidentified by their finders; and on occasion some of us even receive birds we misidentify ourselves. This is a great topic.

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Wildlife Wildlife Rehabilitation Falcons Pit Bulls 255

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 23, 2016

This blog was written by Sherry Turner Teas, a rehabber in Chattanooga, Tennessee: It started out as a normal day for a wildlife rehabilitator here in Tennessee – giving medicine, cleaning cages, and feeding baby birds. I was in a total panic, as I had no idea how to treat a bird for a spider bite.

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Wildlife Rehabilitation Tennessee Raised Wildlife 162

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2016

This blog was written by Arden Zich, volunteer with Fox Valley Wildlife Center in Elburn, IL: Congratulating myself for leaving the house on time, I got into my car and drove off to meet up with a friend for lunch. Giving the bird a wide berth I veered towards the other side of the road, assuming she would fly off.

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Wildlife Rehabilitation Fox Medical Wildlife 166

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 18, 2012

Of all the billions of things that keep wildlife rehabilitators from sleeping at night, public releases are one of the big ones. Ideally, we like to release birds where they came from (as long as it’s not a dangerous area), and with as little fanfare as possible. Bird people understand this.

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Wildlife Rehabilitation Rescue Killing 2012 168

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2015

Pilots ‘n Paws Canada stepped up to the plate and volunteered to fly the little birds to Quebec. Murdo Messer, co-founder of Cobequid, accompanied the birds so they could be fed en route during the five hour flight in the small plane. Not only is it closer to Nova Scotia, but Director Sue Wylie has expertise working with swifts.

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Wildlife Rehabilitation Canada Wildlife South America 216

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2012

I like Julie Zickefoose’s art , her writing , her blog , her blog posts here on 10,000 Birds , and, of course, I like birds. So a book about birds by Julie Zickefoose, featuring her writing and art, some of which has been featured in different forms on her blog, is guaranteed to be a hit with me.

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Wildlife Rehabilitation Emotional Woodpeckers Hunting 259

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2016

This guest blog was written by Mikal Deese, Wildlife Educator, Rehabilitator, and founder of On A Wing And A Prayer in Corrales, New Mexico. These can be either molted feathers, or in this case, donor feathers from another bird who had died from her injuries. It was time to try an old falconer’s trick called imping.

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New Mexico Wounded Owls Mexico 143

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2011

who can be found regularly at the bird and wildlife blog Birdland West. There is a real life bird who may not look as much like Woody as the Pileated does, but is a better match than the Acorn — and in personality is much more like the crazy cartoon than either. That bird is the Northern Flicker.

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Woodpeckers Wildlife Rehabilitation Wildlife Seattle 235

10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2011

If we can all agree on one thing, it’s that chickadees and tits are terrific birds. Not for nothing did 10,000 Birds readers elect the chickadee as the Most Beloved Backyard Bird of 2008 ; if we had run elections in other years, chickadees would no doubt have been front-runners. It was still alive.

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Seattle Wildlife Rehabilitation Rescue Dogs 223

10,000 Birds

JULY 26, 2013

This blog was written by Marge Gibson, founder of the Raptor Education Group, Inc. She is a lifelong champion of all birds, and a hero and inspiration to me. Even as a veteran wildlife rehabilitator, I could scarcely believe the sight before me. in Antigo, WI. The phone rang early. We put her on the clinic’s exam table.

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Eagles Wounded Bald Eagle Wisconsin 246