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My friend, Tammy, woke me up with a phone call at 0500 this morning. She was at work at the local hospital. Someone dropped off three baby robins there last evening that apparently blew out of a nest. She asked if I'd take them; I'm the go-to guy around here for injured and "orphaned" wildlife. A few years ago, I volunteered as an avian rehabber at the Wildlife Rehab Center (WRC) at the Univ of Minnesota Vet School.

So she drops them off a little after 0700. I fed them with reconstituted incentivore avian food and go to the WRC website to check their new address and hours. So, at 0845, I'm off to the WRC. Babies delivered full, happy, and sleeping at 0950.

I thought about taking pictures, but figured that no one would care to see them.

Instead, here's a pic of a blue jay I rehabilitated. He's playing tag with my starling.

What about hummingbirds, how easy is it to care for them?

AndesSMF wrote:What about hummingbirds, how easy is it to care for them?

I'm sure that they can be rehabbed, but I've never heard of it being done. They have to have a VERY strong instint to feed. No human can teach a baby hummingbird where to look for food and how to suck it from a flower.

Barn swallows are the same way. They eat on the fly. How is a human going to be able to teach a baby swallow how to eat?

That's cool. I love birds... good work

My most challenging bird rescue involved a snowy owl. I'm not sure how it got injured or sick, but it was found by a deputy sheriff friend of mine on his land. It couldn't fly. I borrowed a pair of welder's gloves and a thick rescue blanket from the ambulance station and drove to his house. The owl was in a field close to the road, but I still had to hike out in the snow to get it. I donned the gloves and threw the blanket over the top of it. I kept it wrapped in the blanket on the floor of the truck during the trip to the Raptor Center at the Univ of Minnesota.

I had the priviledge once of rescuing a fledling Red-tailed Hawk. Man, they are cool looking birds.