Two downy woodpeckers and a barred owl were among the 94animals admitted to the von Arx Wildlife Hospital at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida last week.
Other admissions include a black-crowned night-heron, a snowy egret, a black skimmer, a black racer and a marsh rabbit.
Getting the downy woodpeckers the help they needed required information, communication and skill. A homeowner on Marco Island cut down a row of trees on his property. As he was looking through the brush he noticed three woodpeckers on the ground. Not knowing what to do or how to contact the hospital, he left the babies on the ground. Twenty-four hours later hospital staff received a message about the situation. The homeowner was contacted; unfortunately he hadn’t checked on the babies for over 10 hours and he wasn’t home so he couldn’t go out to check if the babies were still alive.
A volunteer from Marco Island went to the site and searched for the babies. He found a yard full of woodpecker activity.
Our volunteer found two live baby downy woodpeckers still in the brush pile where they had been hiding since the tree was cut down. Amazingly, the adult downy woodpeckers were still tending to the babies on the ground. Our volunteer was concerned about the amount of time the babies had been on the ground so he brought them to the wildlife hospital for a check-up.
The health check on the two downy woodpeckers showed they were in good condition. Hospital staff knew the parents were around so we planned to re-nest. An old branch that contained a downy woodpecker nest cavity that was at the hospital from a previous admission was used as the “new” nest for the two babies. The branch containing the baby woodpeckers was attached to a bit of tree trunk that hadn’t been cut down.
Hospital staff didn’t need to wait and watch to verify if the adult woodpeckers would continue to care for their babies in the “new” nest cavity – the mother downy woodpecker was literally waiting with a bug in her mouth while staff secured the branch in place. As soon as our worker stepped away the mother went to the hole to feed her babies!
A typically re-nesting isn’t always so obviously and instantly successful; sometimes it takes a few minutes or hours to verify the adults have returned to care for their young.
Successes such as this reinforce the need for people to put in the time and any effort it might take to reunite wild animal babies with their parents – it is amazing to witness.
Interestingly, there was another cut tree in the same yard that contained an active red-bellied woodpecker nest. The homeowner had noticed this nest and attached the portion of the cut tree containing the nest cavity and baby red-bellied woodpeckers to a nearby stump. The adult red-bellied woodpeckers were not deterred and adjusted to the new location of their nest as well and were caring for their babies.
Please check any trees for active nests before doing any trimming or removal. If you find an active nest avoid performing any work until the nest is no longer active. If you accidentally cut down a nest, bring the babies to the hospital for care. Injured babies must receive professional medical care. Depending on the situation, healthy babies may be re-nested so they can grow up in the wild, learning skills from their parents needed to survive on their own.
The barred owl was admitted after being found stuck in the mud in a roadside ditch in south Lee County. The owl was hypothermic but alert. Our first priority was to raise the owl’s body temperature. The bird was given subcutaneous electrolytes and placed in an animal intensive care unit which has controlled temperature and humidity. After several hours of warmth, the owl was given a bath to rinse some of the mud from its feathers. Pain medication and electrolytes were administered and the owl was returned to the intensive care unit for the night.
An exam the following morning showed the owl was slightly more responsive but was tachycardic and had harsh lung sounds on inspiration. An antibiotic, as well as Chinese herbs, were added to the owl’s treatment plan.
The owl received a second bath and within another 24 hours was eating on its own. After several days of treatment, the owl no longer required the intensive care unit. The owl was moved to an indoor cage and continues to gain strength as it recovers in the bird room at the wildlife hospital.
Recent Releases
A Florida brown snake, an eastern screech owl, three downy woodpeckers, four common grackles, three northern mockingbirds, four blue jays, a mourning dove, six eastern cottontails, a Swainson’s thrush, a painted bunting, three brown thrashers, three mottled ducks, four Virginia opossums, a yellow-bellied slider and a broad-winged hawk were released this past week.
Opportunities to Help
Please join us in celebrating the Conservancy of Southwest Florida’s annual Wildlife Hospital Baby Shower on Saturday, June 3rd. Visit the Conservancy website at www.conservancy.org/babyshower for details on how to get involved and help us continue to provide quality care to the hundreds of baby animals we will care for this season. All donations are truly vital in helping us continue our work to protect Southwest Florida’s wildlife.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Vancouver authorities stumbled upon a sobering indicator of the city’s opioid problem this week.
Vancouver Police Department Superintendent Michelle Davey tweeted a photo showing a pigeon nest made of opioid needles.
“Pigeons spotted making a nest out of #needles in a #DTES SRO room,” she said. “Sad reality of the #opioidcrisis #fentanyl #frontline #notstaged.”
Staff Sgt. Randy Fincham said the photo was taken in the British Columbia city’s Downtown Eastside neighborhood by a homeless outreach coordinator. The officer, according to the Vancouver Courrier, saw pigeons fly out of the room before snapping the shot of a rundown dirty sink filled needles and three white eggs.
Vancouver has become a hot spot for drugs such as heroin coming in from the Pacific Ocean, reports PRI. Many of the drugs, PRI wrote, stay in the Downtown Eastside neighborhood.
The VPD said the photo was shared, “to show the reality of drug use in the Downtown Eastside,” and to start, “a conversation about the harm reduction efforts of first responders, and the need for treatment options for substance users.”
In the U.S., heroin use has increased in both men and women and across income levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Bolstered by huge increases in cases involving heroin, Americans are dying from drug overdoses at more than double the rate they did in 1999.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
NAMPA, Idaho (AP) — Too many pigeons in downtown Nampa have been causing problems for the area’s buildings and patrons.
The urban renewal agency recently approved a plan to allow a city resident to live-trap the pigeons for free, the Idaho Press-Tribune reported.
The birds’ poop is the main concern, said Randy Haverfield, chairman of the agency.
“It’s something to be concerned about,” Haverfield said. “We just need to get (them) under control.”
The poop damages rooftops’ paint and exterior surfaces, said Brian Foster, city facilities management superintendent. The amount is also a health risk to employees performing maintenance on the roofs, he said.
Air is filtered into the city’s library, but the massive amounts of poop on its roof could contain hazardous bacteria.
About 30 pigeons currently occupy the library’s roof. Foster said he has seen that number increase to 60 pigeons.
The resident who will be trapping the birds, Tim Ault, used to trap them in the 1980s when they were a problem downtown. Nampa Mayor Bob Henry vouched for his expertise.
“We’ve got a real problem, and he’s very successful with what he does,” Henry said.
Ault would use the pigeons he traps for dog training, Henry said.
The city has looked into netting to guard the building from the birds, but officials said that could block maintenance work to the structure and would cost about $10,000.
In previous years, the city put spike strips on the parking garage, which is another choice spot for pigeons.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
To start off this article, both scientists and the internet are unsure if this picture is real. However, police are reporting that birds made a nest out of hypodermic needles in Canada.
Michelle Davey, who is a Canadian Vancouver Police Superintendent tweeted the photo that has been making its rounds on the internet.
The picture shows a dirty sink that is filled with, what appears to be, used hypodermic needles. Laying on top of the syringes are three bleach-white eggs. The caption to the tweet reads “Pigeons spotted making a nest out of #needles in a #DTES SRO room. Sad reality of the #opioidcrisis #fentanyl #frontline #notstaged.”
According to Huffington Post, Police Sgt. Randy Fincham stated that the photo “was snapped by the department’s former homeless outreach coordinator while inspecting empty single-room occupancy housing.” Davey shared the photo on social media hoping to gain awareness to the city’s growing drug problem.
Fincham also told Huffington Post that “the image was also shared to start a conversation – a conversation about the harm-reduction efforts of first responders, and the need for treatment options for substance users.”
However, even though the photo is hoping to start a conversation, it seems like some are using it to question if it was all staged. Rita McMahon, director of the Wild Bird Fund wildlife rehabilitation center in New York City told Huffington Post that “Well, it could be [real], but I don’t think it is.”
McMahon went on to state that pigeons typically lay only two eggs. When they are making a nest, the bird would gather a series of items and not just use one.
The National Audubon Society is currently investigating the photo in order to see if it real. Regardless of what bird experts have to say about the image, the Vancouver Police Department still states that it is genuine.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
A picture of a pigeons’ nest made entirely from used syringes has been shared by police in the Canadian city of Vancouver to highlight its drug crisis but experts have questioned its authenticity.
Shared on social media by Superintendent Michelle Davey, she said it had been found in a single room occupancy in the Downtown Eastside area of the city, The Independent reported.
She described the image as reflecting the “sad reality of the opioid crisis” in the city.
She also added “#notstaged”—a claim disputed by some social media users who have said it is a hoax.
Luc-Alain Giraldeau, a scientist at l’Universite du Quebec a Montreal, told the National Post newspaper that he was certain the image did not show a real pigeons’ nest.
He said it contained too many eggs as pigeons usually only lay two at a time. He added that it lacks the thick coat of pigeon feces that the birds typically use to keep their eggs warm. Pigeon nests are “always constructed on a flat surface”, he said.
He declared: “This cannot be a pigeon nest.”
Marion Chatelain, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Warsaw specializing in the urbanization of wildlife, agreed.
“To the best of my knowledge, feral pigeons do not use human wastes to build their nest,” she wrote in an email to the National Post, adding that it is very peculiar to see more than two eggs in a nest.
Nathaniel Wheelwright, a veteran bird biologist at Maine’s Bowdoin College, told the newspaper, “My first reaction was that it looks faked.”
However he added: “But then pigeons do build flimsy platform nests of thick twigs and house wrens sometimes nest in bags of nails. So, it could be.”
Regardless of the authenticity of the image, it has served to draw international attention to the city’s problem with prescription opioid abuse.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
