january 2015 volunteer newsletter

8/10/2019 January 2015 Volunteer Newsletter

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WELCOME TO 2015

The best way to begin any year is with a big THANKS to our loyal volunteers. Tri-State Bird Rescue has grownand flourished since 1976 because of your countless hours of service and the many ways you have helped us

rescue and rehabilitate native wild birds.

Its also time to choose a new masthead bird. As the populations of bald eagles continue to thrive in our region,it seemed fitting to make that species our symbol for 2015. We thank Kirsten and Hal Snyder for submitting thisphoto and to the other talented photographers who took part in our annual photo contest.

A NEW WAY TO WORK WITH VOLUNTEERS

As you may have heard, Tri-State Bird Rescue has introduced a new system called VOLGISTICS to help us bettermanage the volunteer program. Volgistics will enable you to sign up for shifts from your home computer, yoursmart phone, or the computer that we are setting up in the volunteer office.

Please go to our websitehttp://www.tristatebird.organd click on the Volunteer tab. On the drop-down menu,click on Volunteer Registration to open the application form. Fill out everything you can and submit the form.Once you receive the confirmation e-mail indicating that weve received your application, you will be able to logback in to schedule shifts by clicking on the Volunteer Log-in button. If you have any questions or problems,

contact Julie Bartley at (302) 737-9543, extension 102. If you continue to have difficulty, she can help you sign

up the next time youre at the Frink Center.

RECENT RELEASES

An unusual patient came to our clinic in late October: an American coot. Found inside a

church in Atlantic County, New Jersey, on October 30, the adult male waterbird was

probably the victim of an animal attack. It was thin on arrival with deep puncture woundson his back, scrapes on his beak, and a swollen face. We cleaned and removed feathers

from his wounds and then sutured and bandaged them while the bird was anesthetized.Once he adjusted to his surroundings and began self-feeding, our patient steadily gained

weight on a diet of bloodworms, mealworms, and krill. An accomplished escape artist, the

coot calmed down after we moved him to free housing. By December 3, with his woundshealed and his waterproofing improved, we moved him to an outside cage. Once weconfirmed that he was flying well, we banded the bird and volunteer Tom Jones released

the coot at a suitable location in New Jersey on December 7. Learn more about theAmerican coot in this months Feature Bird article.

Among the three eastern screech owls we released in December was patient 14-2410. On November 11, an

animal control officer found the owl along a road in Somerset County, Maryland, and took the red-phase juvenileto volunteer Bobbie Stadler. After caring for the bird overnight, Bobbie connected with volunteer Al Ware to

transport the bird to our clinic. The underweight youngster was dull and fluffed on admission, had frayed feathertips, and held its eyes closed. Observing no fractures on the radiograph, we wrapped the owls wing, began a

course of pain medication, and prescribed two weeks of cage rest. With a hide box and doughnut providing

Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research

MONTHLY FLYERA Volunteer Newsletter

January 2015

Celebrating 39 years of excellence in

wildlife rehabilitation and research

Photo by snyders/moonbeampublishing Editor: Loretta Carlson

Staff Ph


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Monthly Flyer, January 2015 2

security and support, the owl soon began self-feeding and perching. Once we removed the wrap, we moved theowl outside to give it opportunities to regain its strength and flight skills. By early December, the screech owl

was flying well and was catching live mice. Because this was a first-year bird, we were able to release it on Tri-State grounds on December 6.

The snowy owls are back, although not in the numbers observed during the winter

of 2013/2014. Tri-State admitted a snowy owl on November 21 that came to us soshe could exercise in our large flight cage and gain weight before her arduous

journey back to her Arctic home. Injured in Maryland last March, the second-year

female received initial treatment at the Maryland Zoo for a dislocation of a smallbone in the wingtip. The young owl proved to be a fighter that overcame originalconcerns that she could not survive her injuries or achieve the silent flight so

necessary for owls to hunt successfully. On her admission to Tri-State, we notedthat the snowys injury was well healed and she had good range of motion. After

her introduction into the flight cage, she was seen flying well, perching, and

landing on platforms. Her flight was completely silent, and she had good lift andturning ability. As often happens with long-term patients, the snowy haddeveloped secondary issues during her recovery, and we anesthetized her to

suture a split carpus and dremel her beak and talons. In cooperation with Project

SNOWstorm, Dr. David Brinker of Maryland DNR fitted the owl with a transmitterand released her at Assateague State Park on December 11. On December 16, avolunteer working with Project SNOWstorm spotted her at the south end of the

park and reported that the owl, now dubbed Delaware, was flying well. You cantrack Delawares movements and learn more about snowy owls on the Project

SNOWstorm website at www.projectsnowstorm.org.

A Pennsylvania resident took extreme measures to rescue an injured downy woodpecker on December 16,retrieving the bird after he hit a window and fluttered onto the roof. On admission, the juvenile male had blood

in his mouth, swollen ears, and bruising over his clavicle, but he was feeling feisty enough to drill in the

admission basket. By December 18, our patient was self-feeding suet and fruit. Once he put on some much-needed weight and added seeds and mealworms to his diet, we moved the bird outside for flight exercise. OnDecember 27, with the downy injury-free and flying well, the presenter returned and released him back in the

area where he was found.

OTHER RELEASES IN DECEMBER

In December, we also released red-tailed hawks, a sharp-shinned hawk, a Coopers hawk, a barred owl, acommon loon, a double-crested cormorant, a great blue heron, a cedar waxwing, an eastern bluebird, a house

finch, American robins, dark-eyed juncos, and a northern bobwhite.

FEATURED BIRD: AMERICAN COOT

At first glance, some people who spot an American coot on the water mightmistake it for a plump duck. Yet this slate-gray waterbird with the white bill

is a member of the Rallidae family, meaning it is more closely related to railssuch as the purple gallinule and common moorhen. Once the coot leaves the

water, its gangly yellow-green feet and chickenlike gait further distinguishthe species from the duck family. Each of the coots long toes has broad

lobes of skin that allow it to kick through the water. Then, to enable the cootto walk on dry land, the lobes fold back when the bird lifts its foot. Like

some other species, these awkward fliers must run across the water to take

flight.

Supervisor Brie Hashem holdsDelaware as David Brinker

inspects the owls transmitter.

Staff Photo

Photo by Kim Steininger


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To feed, a coot immerses its head and neck in shallows withthe body and tail tipped up. Coots also pick food off the

waters surface, and they may dive as deep as twenty-fivefeet for the fronds, leaves, seeds, and roots of aquatic

plants. They also eat insects, amphibians, mollusks, and

small fish.

Coots form monogamous pairs and both sexes perform

water displays during courtship. They build a basket-style

nest placed almost always over water on floating platformsanchored to upright vegetation. They have one or twobroods a year with eight to twelve young. The babies leave

the nest soon after hatching and take their first flight at forty-nine to fifty-six days old.

Although coots in the western part of the United States and Florida are year-round residents, populations in thenorthern half of North America migrate to the southern half of the United States or to Central America. They

sometimes gather in winter flocks numbering in the thousands and may mix with other waterfowl.

Because coots are common and widespread in so many varieties of wetlands, scientists monitor their populations

to study the effects of agricultural runoff, industrial waste, and nuclear waste. Read more about the Americancoot at the Cornell Lab of Ornithologys All About Birds Web site, www.allaboutbirds.org, as well as in Birds of

North America, published by the Smithsonian Institution, or your own favorite birding book.

NWRA SYMPOSIUM IN PRINCETON IN MARCH

This years National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association (NWRA) symposium will be held in Princeton, New Jersey,from March 10 to 14. This is a great opportunity to learn more about wildlife rehabilitation and meet other

wildlife rehabilitators. Three concurrent sessions will run for four days on topics from songbirds to turtles tomammals and more. Current and former Tri-State staff members will present posters and lectures, including

Twenty-Five Years of Banded Bird Encounters by Dr. Erica Miller and Aimee Federer and Beyond Raptors and

Parrots: Training Techniques for a Diverse Avian Collection by Jackie Kozlowski. For more information, visitwww.nwrawildlife.org/content/nwra-symposium-2015 .

VOLUNTEER ANNIVERSARIES FOR JANUARY

33 years: Joyce Goldbacher and Linda Patton 32 years: Barbara Druding 27 years: Lisa Robinson andGloria Worrell 26 years: Charlotte Smith and Pat Wolters 24 years: Dolores Baxter 23 years: Diane

Korolog 20 years: Rachael Coffey 13 years: Samuel Crothers, John Grodzicki, and Noel Milligan12 years: Joan Gardner and Marion Lockerman

JOIN THE GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT

Looking for another way to help the birds? Why not join the 100,000 people who have participated since 1998

in the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC)? The first online citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds andto display results in near real-time, GBBC creates a snapshot of thedistribution and abundance of birds over a four-day period in February.

You spend as little as fifteen minutes counting birds on one or more of thedesignated dates, then report your findings at www.birdsource.org/gbbc/ .Online resources at this site include tips on identifying birds and materials

for teachers and students.

The GBBC dates in 2015 are Friday, February 13, through Monday,February 16.

Cedar waxwing Photo by Russ Carlson

Two coots feed at Cape May. Photo by Kathleen ONei


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At Tri-State Bird Rescue, we see many birdsmost of them injured, ill, or orphaned. This is your opportunity tosee healthy birds in their native habitat. Dont miss it! When you take part in the GBBC, you will not only be

enriching your own knowledge of birds, you also will be helping provide data to the ornithologists who study birdpopulations, migration, and conservation throughout the year.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Help Us Plan Tri-States 40th Anniversary Celebration. Meeting on Tuesday, January 13, 6 p.m.In 2016, Tri-State Bird Rescue will commemorate forty years of excellence in the rehabilitation of injured,

orphaned, and oiled native wild birds . . . through compassionate care, humane research, and education (from

the Tri-State mission statement). A celebration this big will require many hands and a lot of work. All arewelcome to attend our kickoff meeting on January 13 to help kick-start plans for the 40th anniversary photo

contest (starts in spring 2015) and choose 40th anniversary logos, themes, and merchandise. We will meet inthe breakout room of the Frink Center.

Volunteer Information Sessions.All those interested in volunteering at Tri-State must attend an information

session before they can register for a bird care workshop. These one-hour information sessions give prospectivevolunteers a good overview of our operations and expectations.

February Sessions: Saturday, February 21, 11 a.m.; Saturday, February 28, 11 a.m.

March Sessions: Saturday, March 7, 11 a.m.; Saturday, March 21, 11 a.m.; Thursday, March 26, 6 p.m.

Adult Bird Care Workshop. Saturday, March 28, 9 a.m.1 p.m.

Grand Opening of the Wildlife Response Annex, Saturday, February 21 (time TBA).Yes, finally!

Volunteers and members are invited to tour the new Annex. Further details will be announced in next monthsFlyer.

Volunteer Appreciation Celebration, Sunday, March 22, 2 p.m.Weve moved our volunteer recognition

ceremony from December to March. This event will include distribution of the annual volunteer awards and afabulous free-flight bird show by Phung Luu and Jackie Kozlowski. We will share more details in upcoming issuesof The Flyer.

Open House. Sunday, May 3, 2015.Its never too early to start thinking about the 2015 Open House. Wellhave not only the Frink Center available for tours, but also our new Wildlife Response Annex. Stop by and seeDuke Doblick in the development office or call him at (302) 737-9543, extension 108, to learn how you can help

us plan this important community event.

january 2015 volunteer newsletter

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