CASELOAD AT 250-PLUS BIRDS AND COUNTING From ducklings and goslings to nestling, fledgling, and brancher songbirds, shorebirds, and raptors, the young birds of summer are filling our pools, playpens, and cages. Whether they lose their parents, fall from nests, or become victims of weather or attacks by other animals, these young patients need special attention. Even with our many interns, we still need you, our dedicated volunteers, to help us care for these tiny patients. Remember, the youngest babies must be fed every 15 to 20 minutes from dawn to dusk.

So if you can helpeven for a couple of hoursplease check Volgistics to see where we need help most and then sign up. Our three shifts are as follows: 8 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., 1 to 6:15 p.m., and 6 to 10 p.m. The 15-minute overlap allows a smooth transition between shifts.

Dont forget about our hotline for same-day schedule changes. If you need to cancel a shift you signed up for that day, please call and leave a message at (302) 737-9543, extension 103. Use the same number if you find yourself with unexpected free time and would like to come in that day.

VOLUNTEER SURVEY A big THANK YOU goes out to all the volunteers who took the time to respond to our online survey. We greatly appreciate your feedback and suggestions. If you havent yet responded, you can do so until July 15. Click this link (www.surveymonkey.com/s/5CSF232) or pick up a paper copy from Julie.

For those who expressed interest in helping out with the front desk, facilities, special events, and fund-raising, please let Julie know of your interest. We would love additional assistance in these areas. Julie can then point you to the correct staff person. Thank you for all you do for the birds and for Tri-State.

GIANT YARD SALE:

CLUTTER IS FOR THE BIRDS The trailer is in the upper parking lot, and volunteers are already busy accepting and sorting donations for the Giant Yard Sale on Saturday, October 3.

As always, we hope you will come out and shop in support of Tri-State Bird Rescue. But our sale cannot succeed without items to sell. Nows the time to clean out your basements and attics and encourage your family and friends to do the same. We are eager to receive your books, collectibles, DVDs, electronics, games, and housewares. We are not able to accept clothing, large furniture, TVs, or computer monitors. If you are unsure about an item, visit www.tristatebird.org or call (302) 737-9543.

Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research

MONTHLY FLYER A Volunteer Newsletter

July 2015

Celebrating 39 years of excellence in wildlife rehabilitation and research

Photo by snyders/moonbeampublishing Editor: Loretta Carlson

Gray catbirds Staff Photo

Volunteers are waiting to help you unload your donations. See article for days and times. Staff Photo

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You may drop off donations on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Fridays between 9 and 11 a.m. from now through September 27. You also can call ahead to make arrangements to drop off your donations at other times if you are not able to come to the center on the days and times listed above.

Last year we raised more than $10,000 for the birds. With your helpdonating items and spreading the word among your family, friends, and communitywe can make this years Giant Yard Sale an even bigger success. Thank you!

RECENT RELEASES Among all the babies, we still have quite a few adult patients, and we recently released a turkey vulture that had been with us since early February. Patient 15-117 came to us from Odessa where it had eluded capture for a couple of weeks. On admission, the vulture had a stiff left shoulder, feather damage, and soft tissue damage. To ensure the bird did not have more serious orthopedic injuries, we anesthetized it and did a full set of radiographs. We also cleaned its feathers, removed pieces of broken feather shafts, and tested the bird for lead poisoning. With a hide box and high perches to help the vulture acclimate to its surroundings, the bird was soon eating whole foods. On February 12, we anesthetized the bird again to implant new feathers and then moved it outside, where the vulture immediately made itself at home. By mid-March, the birds body condition had improved, and its feathers were growing in well, but its flight was labored. It took almost three more months of flight conditioning, but by June 9, the vulture was flying beautifully, enabling us to release it back to the area where it was found.

Another vulture had a shorter stay, despite its more extensive injuries and guarded prognosis on admission. On the evening of April 30, Good Samaritans found this adult in the woods near Perryville, Maryland. The vulture could not lift its headand radiographs soon revealed the reason. The vulture had been shot, and pellets were lodged in the birds neck near the clavicle as well as in its right leg. We cleaned and wrapped the injury sites and started the vulture on a course of antibiotics to ward off infection. Within a week, the bird was self-feeding kibble and vegetables, and examinations revealed that its injuries were healing well. On May 16, Dr. Kelley debrided and sutured the vulture while it was under anesthesia, and by May 26, the wounds had healed well enough for us to move the bird to an outside cage. After a week acclimating to outside temperatures and exercising in the flight cage, the vulture was ready for release back in Perryville by volunteer Dennis Davis.

Few babies are as endearing as young killdeer. These sensitive birds require special handling, however, and we are particularly concerned about their ability to survive once we release them. Although band returns have demonstrated that wild birds raised by professional rehabilitators successfully migrate, breed, and thrive in the wild, we typically receive band returns only when someone finds a dead bird. On May 31, however, a killdeer that we raised, released, and banded in 2014 came back into the clinic after it hit a window in Kent County, Delaware. The young bird was stressed and laboring to breathe when it arrived, requiring pain medication and some time in the oxygen chamber. Yet despite its injuries, the killdeer readily ate mealworms, bloodworms, and crickets when we offered them. Once the killdeer stabilized, we gave it a thorough examination, which revealed minor abrasions on its keel as well as a wing droop. We cleaned the wound and then took radiographs to confirm that the bird had no fractures or other orthopedic injuries. By June 7, the killdeers condition was much improved, allowing us to move it outside. As it continued gaining weight and strength, the birds flight also improved. We released the

killdeer on June 11, with fond hopes that it will have a long life in the wildand no need for a return to Tri-State. Although we regret that it was an injury that brought this bird back to us, we are grateful to learn that the killdeer survived more than a year after its initial release.

Another impact victim was a blue-gray gnatcatcher that hit a window at the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford on June 11. The fledgling was depressed and fluffed on admission with a small chip on its upper mandible and a head tic. With pain medications and supportive care overnight, the gnatcatcher was much improved by the next morning. After a test flight showed that it was flying well and attaining good lift, we scouted the grounds around the museum and released the youngster into a flock of adult blue-gray gnatcatchers. A volunteer monitored the area and later observed adults caring for our former patient.

Staff Photo

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Two red-shouldered hawks have a new home with a foster family thanks to the efforts of caring and observant humans. A woman staying at a campground in Lewes, Delaware, noticed a young red-shouldered hawk walking in the woods early on the morning of June 10. She contacted the campground manager, who searched the area for adults without success. That afternoon, volunteers Loretta and Russ Carlson went to the campground and found the dehydrated brancher covered with hippoboscid flies and huddled in the shade of a trailer. Radiographs showed no abnormalities, so after treating the youngster with lice powder to get rid of the hippoboscid flies, we moved it outside. Within a few days, a nestling red-shouldered hawk joined the young brancher. A Newark homeowner had found that bird in his backyard next to a dead nestmate. The nestling was thin, but otherwise had no injuries. It would not hand-feed or self-feed, however, until we moved it into the outside cage with the older red-shouldered hawk. As soon as it went outside, the youngster climbed out of its nest and onto a perch. With both birds in good condition, we started planning the renesting. Because no adult red-shouldered hawks were observed at either of the original nest locations, we placed these two youngsters with a third young hawk in another nest where the homeowner agreed to monitor them. The homeowner also agreed to put out three mice a day for ten days to help the parents provide for their larger-than-usual brood.

OTHER RELEASES IN JUNE In June, we also released or renested the following birds: osprey, peregrine falcons, American kestrels, bald eagles, Coopers hawks, eastern screech owls, a barred owl, a willet, green herons, a black-crowned night heron, a great blue heron, Canada geese, mallards, wood ducks, a laughing gull, ring-billed gulls, American crows, eastern

bluebirds, tree swallows, barn swallows, a purple martin, an orchard oriole, house wrens, Carolina wrens, a red-bellied woodpecker, downy woodpeckers, a gray catbird, northern mockingbirds, song sparrows, white-breasted nuthatches, northern cardinals, tufted titmice, blue jays, American robins, house finches, common grackles, mourning doves, and brown-headed cowbirds.

TRI-STATE PARTICIPATES IN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE In May 2015, Oil Spill Response Team members Samantha Christie, Michelle Neef, Dr. Cristin Kelley, and former intern Andrea Ambrose represented Tri-State at the 12th Effects of Oil on Wildlife (EOW) international conference in Anchorage, Alaska. EOW, which was founded by Lynne Frink and Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research in 1982, is the only global meeting focusing on the planning, response, rehabilitation, and research aspects of oil spills and their impacts on wildlife species. EOW was co-sponsored by International Bird Rescue located in Fairfield and San Pedro, California, and Aiuka, located in Praia Grande, So Paulo, Brazil. More than 150 attendees from nine countries participated in this significant event.

The Tri-State team presented three papers: Andrea Ambrose, A Subjective Evaluation of the Efficacy of 32 Surfactants in the Removal of Petrochemicals from Feathers; Michelle Neef, Integrating an Online Database into an Emergency Response; and Sam Christie, Considerations for Treating Oiled Amphibians. Additionally, Michelle moderated a planning and preparedness session, and Sam helped coordinate and organize a wildlife planning workshop using the 2015 wildlife response preparedness guidelines from IPIECA. Sam also participated in a Facilities Round Table to discuss the Wildlife Response Annex.

We are excited to announce that Tri-State will sponsor the 13th EOW in 2017. We look forward to organizing this noteworthy conference for the international wildlife response community.

PROVIDE ROOTS AND WINGS IN AVIAN ARBOR Tri-State now has a brand-new Tree of Life growing in the Avian Arbor in our lobby. You can purchase commemorative brass leaves to honor or recognize that special someone in the Tri-State family. The Early Bird special pricing, running from now until Labor Day, September 7, 2015, is one leaf for $200, two for $375. Beginning September 8, the regular leaf price will be $225. As a kickoff incentive, the first 50 leaves sold will provide all the food

This red-tailed hawk from Lancaster was found on a

fence in early June. It was uninjured, but because no adult hawks were observed in the area, we kept the brancher until it was flying well. Volunteer Jim McVoy released the hawk in Media on June 28 in an area where he had observed red-tailed hawk adults. Staff Photo

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for our baby birds this summer! You can visit www.tristatebird.org/treeoflife to make your payment securely online or call (302) 737-9543, extension 108. Tri-State appreciates your help with our new Avian Arbor initiative, which enables us to maintain our strong roots and give wings to natures compromised wildlife.

VOLUNTEER ANNIVERSARIES FOR JULY 23 years: Dottie Colburn 22 years: Mary Birney 21 years: Elaine Smith 13 years: Sara Hutchinson 12 years: Catherine Feher-Renzetti 11 years: Jill Constantine 5 years: Marie McKee 4 years: Bill and Natalie Allen and Denise Dee 3 years: Gary Patterson

FEATURED BIRD: TREE SWALLOW One of the first swallows to migrate north during the spring, tree swallows can travel in flocks numbering in the hundreds of thousands. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, they form a dense cloud above a roost site (such as a cattail marsh or grove of small trees), swirling around like a living tornado.

This adaptable species is equally at home in fields and marshes, as well as urban and suburban habitats located near water. At 5.75 inches long, the tree swallow is smaller than its cousins the barn swallow and purple martin. Male tree swallows are easily identified by their iridescent green-blue upperparts, white cheek patch, and white underparts. Females have duller plumage, and juveniles have brown upperparts. All tree swallows have a slightly notched tail and a short, flat beak.

Known for their acrobatic aerial displays, tree swallows snag insects in flight with their mouths. They may also eat small crustaceans and spiders. They have been known to subsist on seeds and berries during cold snaps on their wintering grounds and during spring migration.

Tree swallows travel and feed in mixed flocks with other swallow species, and they form loose colonies during breeding season. Males may have two mates during a single breeding season. They typically nest in natural tree cavitieshence their namebut also use manmade bird boxes and gourds. The female collects plant material, animal hair, and even trash to make the nest and uses her body to shape it into a cup about 3 inches across and 2 inches deep before lining it with feathers. She incubates four to seven eggs for thirteen to sixteen days; the young fledge at sixteen to twenty-four days old.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the tree swallow is among the best-studied bird species in North America, and it has helped researchers make major advances in the study of ecology. Learn more about the tree swallow 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.

EARLY BIRD OFFER: BENEFIT FOR THE BIRDS You can band together with us for a fun-filled evening at Tri-States Benefit for the Birds and save money with our Early Bird offer from now until September 15. To purchase tickets online, visit www.tristatebird.org. You may also purchase tickets by sending an e-mail to Duke Doblick at ddoblick@tristatebird.org or by calling him at (302) 737-9543, extension 108. Dont miss this opportunity to help save birds lives while enjoying delicious food and desserts, raffles, the Silent Hawktion, and more.

Male tree swallow Photo by Kim Steininger

Photo by Hank Davis

Monthly Flyer, July 2015 5

UPCOMING EVENTS Giant Yard Sale. Saturday, October 3. The trailer is in the upper parking lot! See the article above for more details.

Adult Bird Care Upgrades. Beginning in late August/early September, we will schedule bird care upgrade workshops for volunteers trained in April and May who so far have worked primarily with baby birds. If you would like to continue to volunteer with us through the fall and winter (and we hope you do!), you will need to attend one of the two-hour Adult Bird

Care Upgrade sessions to learn about adult bird care, which is very different from baby bird care. Sign-up sheets will be posted in the Volunteer Room. Experienced volunteers who would like to refresh their adult bird care skills are welcome to attend.

Information Sessions and Adult Bird Care Workshop. For people who like to plan ahead, we have scheduled our late summer information sessions and early fall adult bird care workshop. 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 prospective volunteers a good overview of our operations and expectations.

August information sessions: Thursday, August 20, 6 p.m.; Thursday, August 27, 6 p.m.

September information sessions: Thursday, September 3, 6 p.m.; Saturday, September 5, 11 a.m.

Adult Bird Care Training: Saturday, September 12, 9 a.m.1 p.m.

Benefit for the Birds. Friday, November 6. See article above and announcement below for details on the Early Bird Special. Contact Duke Doblick in the Development office at (302) 737-9543, extension 108, or via e-mail at ddoblick@tristatebird.org if you would like to help with this important annual fund-raiser.