january 2016 volunteer newsletter

7/23/2019 January 2016 Volunteer Newsletter

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Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research

MONTHLY FLYERA Volunteer Newsletter

January 2016

Celebrating 40 years of excellence inwildlife rehabilitation and research

Photo: snyders/moonbeampublishing Editor: Loretta Carlson

HAPPY NEW YEAR

The best way to begin any year is with a big THANK YOU to our loyal volunteers.

We feel especially grateful to each and every one of you in 2016 as Tri-State BirdRescue begins its 40th-anniversary year. Our organization has grown and flourished

since 1976 because of your countless hours of service and the many ways you have

helped us rescue and rehabilitate native wild birds.

For this year’s Monthly Flyer masthead bird, we are featuring the Ruby-throatedHummingbird, the symbol of our “ruby” anniversary. As Lisa Smith notes, “Although

this was an obvious choice, the more we thought about it, the more fitting it

seemed. . . . Ruby-throats have seemingly boundless energy, like our volunteers.”

Once again we thank Kirsten and Hal Snyder for submitting this photo and to the other talented photographers

who took part in our annual photo contest.

RECENT RELEASES

Our most unusual admission was a Black-legged Kittiwake, a pelagic

seabird not commonly seen inland and a species first for Tri-State. Thisimmature bird came to our clinic on November 21 after spending a

week traveling with a truck driver from New Jersey who found the bird

and removed a fishhook. Fortunately, the kittiwake had no majorproblems and required only a minor surgical procedure to clean andsuture the wound and the right mix of anti-fungal and parasiticide

medications. After two weeks enjoying a good diet, appropriatehousing, and the opportunity to swim, preen, and reestablish his

waterproofing, the kittiwake returned to full strength. He was released

off shore with the help of the Delaware Department of NaturalResources and Environmental Control in early December. Learn more about the Black-legged Kittiwake in thismonth’s Featured Bird article.

‘Tis the season for Dark-eyed Juncos, the so-called “snowbirds” that spend the cooler months in our region

and then depart in springtime. We’ve admitted a number of juncos so far this winter. Most have been quick-turnaround cases, including patient 15-2614, which required only two days to recuperate fully after it was

apparently hit by a vehicle. Although the presenter reported that the junco was unable to fly when she found it

in her driveway in Landenberg, it had recovered well enough by the time it arrived at Tri-State to take a briefflight around the Meds Room. Observing no apparent injuries other than mild dehydration, we administered

fluids and pain medication and prescribed cage rest before releasing the junco on December 18.

It’s also the season for raptors, and we recently released two Red-tailed Hawks that had been with us for a

couple of months. Patient 15-2363 came to us on September 27 from Delaware County in Pennsylvania. Thefinder reported seeing the hawk in a field and noted that it could not stand and was easy to catch. The

apparent victim of an impact with a passing car, the hawk had a bruised right shoulder as well as bruises andabrasions on its breast and a well-aligned left coracoid luxation. We managed the wing injury conservatively

Staff Photo



Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research 2

with a figure-eight wrap and then wrapped the wing to the body. After an extended period of physical therapyand positive-reinforcement-based fight conditioning, we banded this Red-tail and released it at the John HeinzWildlife Refuge on December 10.

Another Red-tailed Hawk apparently hit by a car came to us from Chester County on

October 15. In addition to severe dehydration and minor road rash, the raptorsustained a fracture of the right clavicle and mild trauma to both eyes. On admission,

it was subdued, with labored breathing. We immobilized the fracture with a figure-eight wrap and a body wrap. We treated the hawk for parasites and anemia and

administered antibiotics, anti-inflammatory medication, and pain medication, as wellophthalmic medications to facilitate healing and minimize scarring of its eyes. By

December 13, the hawk had gained weight and its body condition was muchimproved. After time spent in the flight cage, the Red-tail was flying well enough tobe released. Many thanks to volunteer Rand McIlvaine, who transported the hawk to

our clinic, and to Rand and volunteer Marian Quinn who released it on December 13

in Downingtown near the area where it was found.

OTHER RELEASES IN DECEMBER

In December, we also released Bald Eagles, a Barred Owl, an Eastern Screech Owl, a Cooper’s Hawk, a Ring-

billed Gull, a Herring Gull, a Canada Goose, a Fish Crow, a Red-bellied Woodpecker, a Downy Woodpecker, aHouse Finch, a Carolina Wren, and an American Robin.

FEATURED BIRD: BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE

The Black-legged Kittiwake is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae. The

bird’s common name reflects its piercing ki-ti-waak call, while its scientific

name of trydactyla refers to the gull having three toes instead of the usualfour on each foot.

At 16 to 17 inches long, the Black-legged Kittiwake is a small, cliff-nesting gul

that lives most of its life at sea. Adults have a white body, gray wings withblack tips, and black legs and feet. Juveniles have a black collar across the

back of the neck, a black-tipped tail, and a black W stretching across theback.

Drinking only saltwater and primarily feeding on small fish, kittiwakes also eatsmall invertebrates such as crustaceans and mollusks. Although they may

also eat refuse from ships, kittiwakes are the only gulls that do not scavengeat garbage dumps since they rarely venture inland.

Black-legged Kittiwakes form monogamous pairs and first breed when they are three years old. During

breeding season, the kittiwake pairs gather in colonies on islands, sea stacks, or inaccessible areas along thecontinental coastline. The male attracts the female with a “choking” display and jerks his head up and down. Ifthe female accepts the male, they nod to one another and cross necks.

Some pairs build their nests on man-made structures such as buildings and shipwrecks. More typically, usingvarious types of wet and dry vegetation, the pair builds its nest on top of a mud/vegetation “platform” andplaces it on the ledge of a steep cliff. Both parents incubate the one to three eggs for twenty-five to thirty-two

days. The young take their first flight at thirty-four to fifty-eight days old, but they return to the nest at nightwhere the parents continue to feed them.

Learn more about the Black-legged Kittiwake at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s 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.

Photo by Marian Quinn

Tri-State Bird’s first-ever

Black-legged Kittiwake.

Photo by Marian Quinn



Monthly Flyer , January 2016 3

VOLUNTEER ANNIVERSARIES FOR JANUARY

34 years: Joyce Goldbacher and Linda Patton 33 years: Barbara Druding 28 years: Lisa Robinson andGloria Worrell 27 years: Charlotte Smith and Pat Wolters 25 years: Dolores Baxter 24 years: Diane

Korolog 21 years: Rachael Coffey 14 years: Samuel Crothers, John Grodzicki, and Noel Milligan

13 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

and to 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 the

designated dates, then report your findings at www.birdsource.org/gbbc/ .

Online resources at this site include tips on identifying birds and materialsfor teachers and students.

At Tri-State Bird Rescue, we see many birds—most of them injured, ill, or

orphaned. This is your opportunity to see healthy birds in their native

habitat. Don’t miss it! When you take part in the GBBC, you will not onlybe enriching your own knowledge of birds, you also will be helping provide

data to the ornithologists who study bird populations, migration, and conservation throughout the year.

The GBBC dates in 2016 are Friday, February 12, through Monday, February 15.

PLAN NOW TO ATTEND THE 2016 BENEFIT FOR THE BIRDS

The date and venue to celebrate Tri-State’s 40th Anniversary at the Benefit for

the Birds have been set! We’ll be taking a short “jaunt” to Deerfield in Newark,Delaware, on Friday, October 21, 2016, from 6 to 11 p.m. Deerfield is across

Paper Mill Road, just over one mile from the Tri-State turn at Possum Hollow Road.

Save the date, mark your calendar, reserve your tickets, and buy a dress or rent

a tux. It’s not too early to get excited for this momentous occasion! More details to follow in upcoming issuesof the Monthly Flyer and on the Tri-State website (www.tristatebird.org). See you all on October 21!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Information Sessions and Adult Bird Care Workshops. Do you have friends or family members whothink they may be interested in volunteering for Tri-State, but who are afraid that this may not be the rightchoice for them? We have the perfect solution: a one-hour Information Session that gives prospective

volunteers a good overview of our operations and expectations. All those interested in volunteering at Tri-State must attend one Information Session before they can register for a bird-care workshop.

Winter/Spring Information Sessions: February 27; March 5, 12, and 19; April 16 and 23; and May 7. All

sessions will take place on Saturdays at 11 a.m.

Adult Bird Care Workshops: Saturday, April 2, 9 a.m.–1 p.m., and Sunday, May 15, 9 a.m.–1 p.m.

Volunteer Appreciation Celebration, Sunday, April 10, 2 p.m. Please join us for our annual celebration

of you ! This event will include distribution of the coveted volunteer awards and a fabulous free-flight bird showby Phung Luu and Jackie Kozlowski. We will share more details in upcoming issues of the Monthly Flyer .

Open House, Sunday, May 1, 2016. It’s never too early to start thinking about the 2016 Open House. We’ll

have 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 canhelp us plan this important community event.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird sips sugar

water from a backyard feeder.Photo b Russ Carlson

january 2016 volunteer newsletter

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