Benalla Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation

28/02/2024

When I woke up this morning I had 5 ducklings in care… by lunch I had 7… now at the end of the day I have 10 ducklings in care! Duckling season is definitely not over yet 💜

28/02/2024

⚠️⚠️⚠️CAUTION⚠️⚠️⚠️
Please be careful driving near the racecourse. There is a family of ducks near the road

21/02/2024

It would seem duckling season isnt quite finished 💜

17/02/2024

Today we released a beautiful long billed corella. This one has been in care for a few weeks regaining strength after it was found on the ground unable to fly. After some fattening up and slowly rebuilding strength in the wings we were able to fly again and have gone back out into the wild 💜

29/01/2024

Last week we had a group effort with Shirley and myself transporting this beautiful eagle to a rehabilitation centre in Beechworth. This eagle has a long recovery ahead and beechworth have an amazing team with beautiful large enclosures for the eagles 💜

27/12/2023

Meet Rudy 💜
Rudy came into care on christmas morning after having a very rough time in the storms. He was saturated and freezing cold (I honesly didn’t think he was going to make it). We managed to get him dry and warm and within a few hours he was able to hold himself help again to eat and drink. A very big thank you to the members of the public that found him and got him into care so quickly 💜

24/12/2023

22/12/2023

RELEASE DAY 💜
It was a big day today for our Little Lorikeet. After spending a long time in care, we were finally healthy and strong enough to go back out into the wild.

For those that haven’t seen the previous posts: this little lorikeet came into care at death’s door after (we suspect) being caught in a glue trap. Our wings, tail, feet and beak were covered and stuck together by the glue and we were very skinny and weak. It was very touch and go for the first few days but we then continued to get stronger each day until finally we could be released again 💜

19/12/2023

GENTLE REMINDER/DESPERATE PLEA
Please, please, please do not attempt to rear wildlife without the necessary experience or licenses. It takes very specific care and has potentially fatal consequences when done incorrectly. This poor galah has obviously been with someone who has attempted to raise it as a pet. It is very tame but extremely underweight and malnourished. I am hopeful the damage can be reversed but it might be too late. This poor galah is weighing the same as a 4 week old when it is actually approximately 12 weeks old.

16/12/2023

Well it was a day of mixed emotions for us today as we released our rosellas. Our 6 little babies are all grown up and out in the big wide world now 💜

04/12/2023

Graduated to the big cage! Wont be long now and these 6 beautiful rosellas will be out on their own 💜

17/11/2023

⚠️CAUTION BABY BIRDS NEAR ROAD⚠️

Please be careful in margaret street near churchill netball courts.
Baby plovers running near road. Have shooed off road a couple times already. Parents will swoop so be careful.

14/11/2023

They grow up so fast 💜

12/11/2023

⚠️ CAUTION DUCK FAMILY NEAR ROAD ⚠️
PLEASE SLOW DOWN NEAR BENSON/MAUD ST AREA
There is a family of tiny ducklings on Benson street near maud st intersection. Please drive carefully. This area has had enough duck/duckling tragedies in the last 24hrs.

11/11/2023

Huge thank you to Tan at North East Victoria Animal Aid - NEVAA for supplying us with some much needed Granivore and meal worms for the babies in care 💜

08/11/2023

UPDATE: CAUGHT AND RELOCATED

⚠️ CAUTION WOMBAT ⚠️
If anyone sees a wombat in the walker street area please contact Shirley or myself with it’s exact location asap. So far he has evaded attempts at finding him to help move him to a safer location

03/11/2023

⛔️ GLUE TRAPS ⛔️
Cases like this are why glue traps are banned in victoria! They are inhumane and harm many animals, not just the mice they are intended for.
This poor Little Lorikeet came into care with its wing and feet stuck together by the sticky substance. It also has a soft tissue injury to its shoulder and is severely underweight (likely from trying to free itself from the trap and the duration of time it was stuck). It was touch and go for the first 48hrs but we seem to be doing better each day now.

26/10/2023

Been a hectic few days looking after these 6… can anyone guess what they are? 🐣

20/10/2023

PLEASE DON’T FEED WILD BIRDS
It is difficult to ensure they are receiving the correct nutrients and it can have seriously detrimental affects to their health. You also do not want them to become dependent on humans for food (what happens if you go on holidays or move away). In some species communal feeding grounds also creates a space for deadly viruses to spread among flocks.

I had a magpie visit me today in the yard. It is clearly used to someone feeding it and it is showing signs of serious nutrient deficiencies and even what looks to be the beginnings of beak rot. So please if you insist on feeding them (which you shouldn’t) at least make sure they are being given all the necessary nutrients (not just plain mince).

https://www.shop.themagpiewhisperer.com/blogs/articles/feeding-magpies #:~:text=Without%20enough%20protein%2C%20feathers%20can,rates%2C%20particularly%20in%20young%20magpies.

18/10/2023

If baby birds come out of the nest too early and the parents are still around, the best thing to do is build a makeshift nest using a hanging basket and nail. 🐦

17/10/2023

Please avoid using this synthetic webbing to decorate your house for Halloween.

Native birds are nesting at the moment, and many species such as the beautiful White Plumed Honeyeater below will use (real) spiderwebs as a downy padding for their nests. Unsurprisingly, the parent birds cannot tell the difference between real and plastic spiderwebs, and when used for nesting, this material can result in fledgling birds becoming snared in their own nests. You can see the poor little bird in the attached image has a foot that is entirely bound up, and needed to be "cut out" of its nest.

The material can also trap bats, larger birds and insects, generally resulting in a slow, painful death.

Let's do better for all the wonderful wildlife we have! 🌿🐦🦉

Pictures and text by: Ryan Christopherson

27/09/2023

🦆 🦆 🦆
Duck family on the move on corner of benson and market street. Please take care when driving in the area 💜

19/09/2023

🐥 🐥 🐥 🐥 🐥
Awesome team effort today between rescuers and members of the public to es**rt a family of ducks to the water. The poor family had been spotted a few times in smythe st in dangerous situations (on the road, in swimming pools) unable to complete their journey to the lake safely, so we gave them an es**rt to safety. Mum, dad and 16 little ducklings are now very happy at the lake with the other wood duck families 💜

This time of year many duck families will be making the journey from their nesting spots to the waterways so please keep an eye out for them on the roads
🐥 🐥 🐥 🐥 🐥

14/09/2023

A huge thank you to Tan at North East Victoria Animal Aid - NEVAA for helping us out with some desperately needed heat mats and bird feed 💜 our tiny ducklings are very appreciative of the heat mats after my current ones had stopped working

04/09/2023

⚠️⚠️DUCKLING SEASON HAS STARTED⚠️⚠️
Please keep an eye out on the roads as we now have duck families trying to make their way to the water with their new little ducklings. If you see a family that needs help/es**rting to the water or if you find any ducklings that have gotten separated from their family please contact me

31/08/2023

Spring is just around the corner and you may have already noticed fledgling birds out and about.

Spending up to two weeks on the ground while they’re learning to fly with help from their parents, a fledgling bird is fully feathered (but might look a little fluffy).

It’s important to know that this is completely normal, it might look like they’re alone, but their parents are often close by getting food.

The best action is to leave them be and give them space, which also means keeping your pets away from them on walks.

Of course, if they’ve ventured onto a road or into immediate danger, you can carefully scoop them back onto the closest grass or garden. It’s a common myth that parents will abandon young birds if touched by a human – this is not true.

Thank you to our friends at Wildlife Victoria for the super cute photo. 💖

17/07/2023

A huge thanks to Rose City Vets for helping keep this beautiful King Parrot alive.
This time of year, the juvenile King Parrots can become infected with Spironucleosis. Without treatment, the infection is fatal.
Luckily for this one, rose city vets got him/her started on treatment early enough that we have survived the infection. We now just need to build up our strength a bit more before release 💜

27/06/2023

Sharing this again due to the recent loss of a beautiful king parrot. Poor thing was found on the side of the road missing feathers, feet glued shut, beak glued shut, unable to eat or move. The vets did a great job to remove the sticky substance from the king parrot but unfortunately damage was done and it was too weak to recover. I believe the sticky substance was from a glue trap. These are illegal and extremely harmful to our beautiful wildlife.