Category Archives: Rehabilitation

Phoenix’s amazing story

by Amy Posted on 28 January 2010

Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation has been getting a lot of publicity the last couple of days from a remarkable patient who was brought in last Saturday. The fire from a small plane crash in Sugar Grove IL had an unexpected victim – a Red-tailed Hawk. The bird was found lying on the ground near the crash sight, badly burned. She was brought to Flint Creek by Kane County Animal Control and since then she has been receiving around the clock care. Here is a piece that aired on our local PBS channel last night.

See also: The burnt bird… | Hawk healing after Sugar Grove plane crash | Badly burned hawk is ‘miracle’ plane crash survivor

I’m going to write a bit about the third week of the raptor internship in a bit. We were lucky to be able to watch Dawn care for this remarkable bird, who is being called Phoenix.

Share the birds, share the love!
Posted in FCWR, Rehabilitation | 3 Comments

Raptors at Hawkwatch

by Amy Posted on 19 October 2009

On the weekend of 10-11 October, the Illinois Beach State Park Hawkwatch celebrated their 10th year with an open house weekend. As part of the celebration, education birds from a new group, The Northern Illinois Raptor Center, were on hand. The birds wowed the crowd with their beauty while their handlers told us about them and answered our questions.

The NIRC was formed after the raptor program at the Springbrook Nature Center was discontinued due to lack of funds. This is their (western) Red-tailed Hawk.

Red-tailed Hawk1

Red-tailed Hawk (western)

Red-tailed Hawk (western)

The NIRC now has four birds which are currently housed with NIRC team members while construction of their new facility at Vogelei Park in Hoffman Estates is underway. This is their American Kestrel.

American Kestrel

American Kestrel

American Kestrel

The birds are used for education programs. The group eventually plans to also rehabilitate birds in need when their facilities are completed. This is their Great Horned Owl.

Great Horned Owl

Great Horned Owl

Great Horned Owl

I love Great Horned Owls, but I love Barred Owls even more. Look at this beauty, the NIRC’s fourth bird.

Barred Owl

Barred Owl

Barred Owl

Barred Owl

It’s always so great to see raptors like these up close, and to hear their stories. I so admire everyone that works with these beautiful raptors and their dedication to both their birds and to educating the public. Big kudos to the NIRC and everyone else involved with caring for birds of prey. Thank you for all you do.

Share the birds, share the love!
Posted in Festivals & Events, Hawk Watch, Illinois, Rehabilitation | 1 Comment

Gorgeous visitors at MBS

by Amy Posted on 30 September 2009

One of my favorite things at the Midwest Birding Symposium were the visiting raptors from Back to the Wild.

BACK TO THE WILD® is a volunteer, non-profit wildlife rehabilitation and nature education center located in northwest Ohio. Its primary mission is to rehabilitate and ultimately release into their natural habitat, injured, orphaned and displaced wildlife.

I loved looking at these beautiful birds. They are all permanent residents at BTTW due to injuries which would prevent them from surviving in the wild. Aren’t they gorgeous?

Long-eared Owl
Long-eared Owl

Long-eared Owl
Long-eared Owl

Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk

Peregrine Falcon
Peregrine Falcon

American Kestrel
American Kestrel

Great Horned Owl
Great Horned Owl

Saw-whet Owl
Saw-whet Owl

Saw-whet Owl
Saw-whet Owl

I was talking with one of the volunteers at the Back to the Wild stand and I learned that they do not name their birds. They do a lot of programs with children and decided not to name the birds so that the children wouldn’t get the idea that the birds are pets. I totally understand that reasoning, but I wonder if it isn’t very unhandy to have unnamed birds. How can you talk about them with someone else? You have to call them something, like “the blind eagle” or “the long-eared with the broken wing,” right? I know they give names to the birds at Barnswallow. If you work with education birds or at a rehab facility, do you name your birds? (Susan?) Why or why not?

Short-eared Owl
Short-eared Owl

Barred Owl
Barred Owl

Barred Owl
Barred Owl

Adopting a bird or purchasing a walkway paver are just two of the ways you can help Back to the Wild with their important work. Here are some more ways to help.

Share the birds, share the love!
Posted in Midwest Birding Symposium, Rehabilitation | Leave a comment

Our visit to Barnswallow, A Wild Bird Concern

by Amy Posted on 16 September 2009

Continuing with the Illinois Audubon Fall Gathering posts, our afternoon field trip on Saturday was a visit to Barnswallow, a wild bird rehabilitation center located near Wauconda. Owner and chief operator Linda showed us around her home where she cares for injured raptors and other wild birds.

Linda was still caring for several late songbird chicks and she told us about the current patients: Cedar Waxwings; Northern Cardinals; and Chimney Swifts. Linda’s target species are primarily raptors, but all patients are welcome at Barnswallow. This season she had an inordinate amount of songbirds to care for.

Besides learning about what goes on at Barnswallow, we were able to meet a few of the resident birds who were presented with the help of some of Linda’s young volunteers.

Linda’s got a first-class rehab facility set up in her home and it was a pleasure to visit her and see the great work she’s doing. You can visit Barnswallow on the web to learn more.

As I didn’t want to use flash during the presentation, most of my photos turned out blurry, but here are a few of the resident birds we got to meet.

Here Linda stands in the clinic with three of her young volunteers, each handling a bird.

Clinic at Barnswallow

This is Carson, an American Kestrel.

Carson the American Kestrel

This is Hubie, an Eastern Screech Owl. Hubie was in the middle of molting so he looked a little scruffy.

Hubie the Eastern Screech Owl

This is Griffin, a Barred Owl who was injured by colliding with a car.

Griffin the Barred Owl

This is Boopie, a Northern Saw-whet Owl.

Boopie the Northern Saw-whet Owl

Here are a few more photos from Barnswallow that I found on Flickr. They come from the account of JanetandPhil and were taken in March 2009.

2009-03-28 Barnswallow - A Wild Bird Concern 12
2009-03-28 Barnswallow – A Wild Bird Concern 12 by JanetandPhil, Creative Commons on Flickr

2009-03-28 Barnswallow - A Wild Bird Concern 4
2009-03-28 Barnswallow – A Wild Bird Concern 4 by JanetandPhil, Creative Commons on Flickr

2009-03-28 Barnswallow - A Wild Bird Concern 9
2009-03-28 Barnswallow – A Wild Bird Concern 9 by JanetandPhil, Creative Commons on Flickr

2009-03-28 Barnswallow - A Wild Bird Concern 8
2009-03-28 Barnswallow – A Wild Bird Concern 8 by JanetandPhil, Creative Commons on Flickr

Share the birds, share the love!
Posted in Illinois Audubon, Lake-Cook Audubon, Rehabilitation | Leave a comment

Chicago area bird rehab needs help

by Amy Posted on 22 February 2009

Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation, a private nonprofit rehab organization in the Chicagoland area, is in trouble. The group has three locations, in Itasca, Barrington and Chicago (Northerly Island), and in the past six month they have suffered through three floods at two locations. The Northerly Island location suffered a burst pipe on January 17th, ruining the center’s flooring.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Since September, flooding twice forced [founder Dawn] Keller and her all-volunteer crew at Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation in Itasca to evacuate 43 birds from outside cages. Then last month, while Keller was still figuring out where she was going to get $15,000 to replace damaged bird habitats, Flint Creek’s bird emergency room at Northerly Island in Chicago flooded.

Repairs to the ER will cost more than $8,000, and Keller fears they won’t be finished in time for the start of migratory bird season. And as the weather thaws, mildew will start to turn the ER into a veritable bacteria farm, she said.


Read the whole article here

Donations can be made to the center via the website. You can donate via Paypal or contribute to their current fundraising drive via firstgiving.

Here’s a message from founder Dawn Keller, recorded for the 2008 holiday season.

Visit the Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation website for more information.

Share the birds, share the love!
Posted in Charity, FCWR, Illinois, Rehabilitation, Video | Leave a comment

Vulture Migrates In Cargo Class

by Amy Posted on 24 December 2006

An unhealthy vulture found in an Oak Park Illinois parking lot last month is heading south for the winter, on a commercial flight from Chicago to Tampa.

The Willowbrook Wildlife Center cared for the vulture until it was healthy again. The bird would be unlikely to survive the winter in Chicagoland so sending it to the usual winter hangout for vultures is the best solution.

Now, the center is caring for a Scarlett Tanager that survived a cat attack in October. Tanagers typically travel as far south as South America during the winter migration. The Tanager will remain in the center for the winter and be released in the spring. And a Great Blue Heron found injured in Lisle earlier this year will be driven south to Texas by a center volunteer.

Read more about these unusual wildlife rescues.

Share the birds, share the love!
Posted in Florida, Illinois, North America, Offbeat, Rehabilitation | Leave a comment

Exterminators Stick Pigeons To Store Sign

by Amy Posted on 31 October 2006

Last week rescue crews worked to save about a dozen pigeons from a store sign in Wethersfield, Connecticut after they became stuck. The store had employed a pest control company to keep birds from roosting in their sign. A gel was applied to the sign in order to repel pigeons. When the temperature outside dropped, however, the gel became adhesive and pigeons became affixed to the sign. The birds were in the care of animal control and were expected to make a full recovery. You can read the full story Crews Rescue Stuck Pigeons at WFSB.

Share the birds, share the love!
Posted in Aside, North America, Offbeat, Pigeons!, Rehabilitation | 2 Comments

Chicago’s Bird Hospital Hopping During Migration Season

by Amy Posted on 15 October 2006

The Chicago Park District opened a bird hospital on the former Meigs Field in April. Last week, the hospital served more than 250 patients. Most injuries treated at the hospital involve birds crashing into buildings, and the number of injuries increases each year during the spring and fall migration periods. The central location is pivotal in saving birds which otherwise would have to be driven to suburban wildlife centers for rehabilitation. The survival rate for birds dropped off at the hospital is over 85 percent. Read more in the Chicago Tribune.

Share the birds, share the love!
Posted in FCWR, North America, Rehabilitation | Leave a comment

The Bird Hospital Of Delhi

by Amy Posted on 24 May 2006

In March as part of our visit to Rajasthan in India we had the chance to visit a bird hospital in Delhi. The hospital is run by Jains at the 16th-century Digambara Jain Temple.

Jain Bird Hospital, Delhi, India
Mural on the Jain Bird Hospital

Followers of the Jain religion revere all life and are vegetarians. Some strict observers wear cloths in front of their mouths in order to avoid accidental inhalation of insects, and brush the ground before them as they walk, so as not to step on any living thing.

Unfortunately we arrived at the hospital after the normal opening times and could only have a quick look at the facility. Here are some photos we took at the hospital.

Top left to bottom right: The exterior of the temple complex; the hospital facility; some patient roosts; the “small birds ward”.



The exterior or the temple complex


The hospital facility


Patient roosts


“Small Birds Ward”

Share the birds, share the love!
Posted in India, Rehabilitation | Leave a comment