BIRDS - Injured; Rescued; Displaced; Surrendered

09/11/2024

Nice afternoon for a walk in the park with Eddie.

08/11/2024

This personality packed little pineapple conure sought out humans to help when it found itself lost and all alone in Lynbrook.

We would love to get this little one back home.

If you think may be yours or know someone who has lost theirs, we would love to hear from you.

05/11/2024

This beautiful and clearly tame galah was found in Werribee. Has some special characteristics that owner would know. If you or someone you know is missing this sweet little one, please get in contact with us as would love to reunite you.

02/11/2024

Charlie (one of our permanent resident cockatoos) is such a character and always brings a smile to our faces with his happy outlook on life.

As with most cockatoos, due to their longevity of up to and sometimes beyond 100 years, they often have several homes. We know of two of those in Charlie's past - the last was wonderful but sadly owners could no longer keep him. His previous owner to that one had actually taken him along with his mate to their local vet to be euthanised as no longer wanted the pair. Lucky for Charlie and Lola the vet refused and had the owner surrender instead so that they could be rehomed. The pair were in terrible condition with Lola sadly passing away within a couple of weeks - was too late for her. Charlie was able to be nursed back to health by his new family with love and patience, and has now come to live with us.

Everyone should have a Charlie in their lives.

02/11/2024

Further to my recent post about it being duckling season, we had a call this week about a home that had a little wood duck family appear about 3 weeks ago in their swimming pool. As it is quite normal for wild ducks to nest in backyards (especially those with swimming pools) then seem to magically appear one morning with their newly hatched ducklings as the residents had been oblivious to them having been sitting on a nest there the whole time, this was not unusual to hear. What was unusual about this instance, is that the duck family (mum, dad and 7 ducklings) had not left, but were still there 3 weeks later.

The parent ducks would take it in turns to look after their babies throughout the day as one parent flew off. I asked the usual questions when I got the call - was there access for the ducks to be able to leave by foot from the yard or were they trapped in it as even though parents could fly, ducklings would need to be able to walk out. Yes they could leave and would take their babies off for periods each day as were many gaps under the fence, only to return again later. There was plenty of natural food for them on the property and when looking up where the nearest creek/lake was, found it was just over 2km away.

So why not just let them stay and leave once babies could fly? There were 2 main issues. One there was a terrier dog on the property who instinctively wanted to hunt the ducks so was causing quite a bit of stress for its owners to try to keep it away from the ducks day and night.

The second issue was that the swimming pool was the duck's only water source. The owners had temporarily stopped putting salt and chlorine into the pool, but the water had turned green and with the weather warming up, they wanted to be able to use their own swimming pool, so had just put a high dose chlorine ''shock' into the pool to turn the water back to clear and also in the hope that the ducks would leave once and for all.

But they didn't. They stayed, continuing to swim and drink the heavily chlorinated water. This could not be good for them, especially in the rapidly developing ducklings.

We needed to get them out of there and help them move to the nearby creek.

I attended to find the father duck there by the pool looking after his 7 babies. Mamma was off somewhere. I was able to catch the father and 5 of the ducklings using a safe and relatively stress free drop net, but 2 of the ducklings managed to escape and took off quickly then hid (as they instinctively do when in perceived danger) and despite searching not just the yard of the property I was in, but also the yards of the 2 adjoining properties over the next 2 hours, was unable to locate the missing ducklings.

I decided to stop the search for now. I was fairly certain the 2 ducklings would find each other and stay together and once they knew I was gone would likely find their way back to the swimming pool. I also was fairly sure mama duck would return at some point soon and would call to them.

I took the dad duck and 5 babies to the nearby creek where there were other wood ducks happily foraging near the banks. When I opened their carrier doors they all ran straight into the fresh water and started drinking and diving then swam to meet the other ducks.

Within an hour or so I received a call advising the mamma duck and her 2 ducklings were back by the swimming pool!

I went straight there and was able to catch all 3 and took them back to the creek to the same spot where I had released their family. I couldn't see the ones I had released earlier there and quietly hoped they weren't making their way back to the chlorinated swimming pool.

I released the mamma duck and 2 ducklings who as per the dad and other 5 babies, all rushed straight into the fresh water. But then she started calling out loudly and swimming very fast down the creek with her 2 babies behind struggling to keep up with her. Then I saw where she was headed. Her family were further downstream and they were quacking and heading towards her. Within a few seconds the entire family were back together again. There was a loud quacking reunion then they all went up onto the bank and started exploring their new home.

02/11/2024

Bob helping me prepare today's 'chop' for the birds in our care. In our salad today we have included the following:

Red and Green capsicum
Fresh mint
Fresh coriander
Asian greens - bok choy and Chinese broccoli
Broccoli
Kiwi fruit
Nectarine
Banana
Pear
Silver beet
Cauliflower
Celery
Mango
Blueberries
Strawberries
Grapes
Corn
Spinach

Enjoy!

01/11/2024

It's duckling season and we are getting alot of calls for help.

Wild ducks usually make a nest quite far from their usual homes in lakes and waterways, often choosing a fenced suburban backyard for their nest site hidden amongst bushes and leafy ground covering. They seem to have a preference for yards with inground swimming pools (who can blame them?!), and the residents will often be oblivious to their presence until they wake one morning to find a family of ducks with a newly hatched clutch of ducklings (average size clutch is 12) swimming in their pool!

Within a day or two (usually same day) the parent ducks will commence walking their little family to their intended permanent home which is usually a local lake, river, creek or dam. The walk can be up to a few kms away and although dangerous for the newborns with many obstacles for them to have to manoeuvre on foot including busy roads, open drains, dogs, cats, foxes, birds of prey just to name a few - it is a very important walk that they must make as part of their development, so if you see a family of ducks on the move, please allow them to continue on their way if safe to do so.

Sadly some won't make it or will become separated from their family and lost along the way, with the parents instincts to look after the majority, so they won't generally return to search for a missing duckling but will continue on with the group to get them to their intended destination as quickly as possible.

We are getting lots of calls for found lost ducklings or orphaned ones when the parents have sadly been hit by cars or killed by another animal. When and where possible we attempt to reunite with their family if we can find them, otherwise we try to team them up with other ducklings of similar age and ideally species who are in care for them to be raised then released together once mature.

Please if you spot a lone duckling (especially if not near a waterway) and you are certain its family isn't nearby, chances are it is lost and needs help. Lone ducklings don't tend to survive long on their own. Contain if possible, keep warm, do not allow it to get immersed in water, and either hand into a local vet or call us or your nearest wildlife rescue for assistance.

31/10/2024

I was called out tonight to an urgent rescue of a fledgling raven hanging upside down, stuck with its leg caught high up in a tree.

The report was made by a neighbour of the house that the tree was in just before 5pm. The tree was in the front yard of the house adjacent to the footpath so clearly visible to both passing foot as well as vehicle traffic.

When I arrived I spotted the struggling bird immediately and was relieved that it appeared to have righted itself, though was still trapped by its leg that was somehow wedged between some branches. As I watched it kept flapping around trying to get free but was unable to. It's wings were shredded from its attempts to escape making it look more like a bat than a raven. As it was too high up for my ladder to reach the fire brigade were called and luckily they were currently available so agreed to attend.

As I waited for them, numerous groups of trick or treaters walked past as it was Halloween, with several curious as to what I was doing there. I pointed up to the raven flapping around in vain and explained I was waiting for the fire brigade who were going to help me get the bird down.

Two different children then commented that they had noticed the raven up there that morning as they walked to school and had seen it was trapped. Yet nobody had reported it until nearly 5pm tonight. That's over 8 hours later.

No wonder his wings were shredded, I just hoped there wasn't more serious damage as the wings would grow back in time.

The fire brigade turned up and as per usual they were amazing, getting him down with their rescue equipment fairly quickly.

To my dismay upon assessing the young bird, I found one of his legs had completely snapped with a bone sticking out, and there were extensive injuries right up to the hip socket.

From spending the entire day struggling to free himself he had caused irreparable damage to his leg that he would be unable to recover fully from. If only someone had have called it in 8 hours earlier. It may have been a different outcome.

Please. If you see an animal needing help. Don't just think that someone else will sort it out. Let that someone be you that does something. Make a phone call. Tell someone. Such a waste of a young life.

Photo in comments of leg.

31/10/2024

Please, if you must use fake spider webs for decoration this Halloween, restrict them to indoor use only.

28/10/2024

We picked up this gentle fantail pigeon tonight who had appeared one day last week on the balcony of a St Kilda apartment. Several days later it was still there, choosing the top of the screen door as its main roost and where it slept each night.

Unsure of where it had come from, the residents called for help as were concerned it wasn't going home or even leaving much to find food.

I arrived today and after two attempts managed to catch it. It has a leg band with letters and numbers but no contact details.

The poor thing is quite skinny so has clearly been lost for a little while. We now have it in care and will do a proper check over of it in the morning after it has some food and a good night's sleep.

We suspect it is from a wedding/funeral release but if you believe may be yours, please contact us.

28/10/2024

Milo came into our care recently. A domestic duck that had been living on a river with wild ducks, had clearly been dumped by someone and was spotted by a caring person who noticed he had a lump at the top of his throat.

They were able to catch him and take to the team at Melbourne Bird Veterinary Clinic who ran several tests but were inconclusive as to what the growth might be. As Milo seemed to be eating and drinking ok and not in any discomfort it was decided that he would come into care and I monitor him over the next few weeks/months to see if the lump increased in size and/or started to impede him in any way, then possible surgery would be considered.

We believe he had been living on the river for some time, but he certainly didn't take long to ease back into domestic life. Within a couple of days he was doing as our other ducks do, free range in the yard all day, then at dusk make their own way up onto our deck and into their individual crates to be safely secured for the night. This afternoon he was sunbathing on the deck with our resident little mud lark foraging behind him for food .

28/10/2024

Our little injured budgie has now made a full recovery from her head injury. Still in care as we continue search for her owner.

27/10/2024

Please support this amazing wildlife shelter by going to the movies!!!!

Wow what a crazy time it is at the moment!
Wild Days is bursting at the seams!

With Wallabies and Wood Ducks, Galahs and Gliders, Swans and Swamphens, Tawny frogmouths and Blue tongues, Kangaroos and King Parrots, Masked Lapwings and Cockatoos, Flying Foxes and Brushtails, Ringtails and Pacific Black ducklings, Silver gulls and Ravens, we are busy busy busy.

As volunteers, we are all flat out keeping up with what needs doing around the shelter, but we need your help!

Our annual movie night is here. Why not have a night out to support Wild Days? COME ON - WE NEED YOU!

Our 'Wicked' movie fundraiser on November 23rd - click on the link to watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVtnCC4MI3c

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW!

Click on the Try Booking link below for more details and to book your tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1309413

We hope to see you there!

Thanks for your support, the Team at Wild Days.

26/10/2024

This stunning little sacred kingfisher was found inside a mechanical workshop at a suburban car yard. When approached by one of the employees it promptly flew into a window then bounced off a wall landing dazed on the ground. They called us for help and I headed straight there.

Hoping it was just a mild concussion I took it to the expert team at Melbourne Bird Veterinary Clinic . They assessed it as having no major injuries and kept it overnight for observation and to allow it to recover. The next day was looking much brighter and was given the all clear to be released back home which it was!

21/10/2024

This injured budgie was spotted on the ground, being visciously attacked by magpies in Berwick. Luckily the passer-by managed to rescue the little one and take straight to a vet, otherwise she would no doubt have been killed.

She has a severe head injury which she is recovering from and showing gradual improvement each day and is now in our care. We would love to reunite her with her family if possible. If you have lost this little one or think you know who has, please get in touch with us. Proof will be required of ownership.

21/10/2024

We sadly picked up two magpies over the past week at different locations, each with horrific injuries/conditions that they were both struggling with and potentially dying a long slow death from.

One had huge hardened abdominal lumps that were infected and when found was huddled under a bush clearly in quite a bit of discomfort.

The other had been hanging around a property for the past couple of days with a badly broken lower beak (it was dangling) that was also infected (you could smell the odour when approaching it) unable to eat or drink so starving to death, but still able to fly so evading capture. When we got there on what was quite a warm afternoon, was sadly sitting in a dish of water, but unable to drink any of it.

We managed to catch them both and take them to nearby vets They were both kindly euthanased to end their suffering as neither would have been able to make a full recovery.

Although when attending these rescues, knowing that even if we catch them they will die as beyond the point of being able to be saved, we know at least their suffering will be over quickly and painlessly, and they will not die a horrible slow death or by being attacked by predators in their vulnerable states.

Thank you to those that noticed them and called for help.

13/10/2024

We had a call recently regarding a raven stuck on a powerpole. The business that it was out the front of had apparently reported it online that morning when they spotted him to WIRES and then waited all day for someone to come. Unfortunately they were unaware that WIRES is a NSW based rescue that doesn't actually cover Victoria, so nobody was ever going to come, but they weren't advised of that.

After watching the poor bird struggling to free itself all day but instead becoming even more wedged, they finally in the late afternoon when they were not far off closing decided to contact another rescue and I was called to help.

I happened to be on the way back from rescuing a little noisy miner and was not far from the location so headed straight there. As soon as I saw the situation I called the local power company, as being amongst power lines they are the only ones able to safely manoeuvre and work in that environment. Timing was perfect for them too as a crew happened to be 5 mins away and able to come immediately.

It was now dark and the exhausted raven's struggles had stopped and we were worried when the power crew arrived that we were too late.

Once they put their lights on him we saw a movement and we all breathed a sigh of relief and they got to work getting their crane up there to cut him down.

He was a young bird, probably only recently fledged and was still learning about the big wide world. It appeared he had landed between 2 wires and his leg had gone between them then when he tried to get it out, had moved his leg further up to where the gap between the wires narrowed and his leg had become firmly wedged.

Once we got him down on the ground I examined him and found his trapped leg badly injured, almost severed.

Sadly upon later examination by a vet it was decided the injury to the leg was too extensive and would greatly impede his ability to survive in the wild, so it was decided to do the kindest thing which was to euthanise him.

I am confident that if we had have been called that morning instead of that night, the damage to the leg would not have been as bad from a day of struggling, and this young raven may have had a chance to be saved. But we are grateful that he was noticed and that someone did what they could to get him help. Most people would have passed by oblivious to the struggling bird above them.

Please always contact a local rescue and ensure they cover the area that you are in. If unsure please call them, or if you haven't heard back after a short while from your online submission, please follow up with a call. Time is of the essence and can often be the difference between life and death.

Fly high little one.