Wild Bird Fund

Wild Bird Fund The Wild Bird Fund is a nonprofit wildlife rehabilitation and education center in NYC.
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You know that chick that used to dance a lot.Every day, she’d be on the ground, shakin’ what she’d got.Man, when I tell ...
10/30/2025

You know that chick that used to dance a lot.
Every day, she’d be on the ground, shakin’ what she’d got.
Man, when I tell you she was cool, she was red hot.
I mean, she was meepin’...

The woodcocks are back in town!

The fall return of the American woodcocks fills us with both excitement and dread. Everyone’s favorite funky dancer is a joy to spot in the city parks as they probe the earth for worms and insects. But so many fall victim to window collisions. The vast majority don’t survive, but we’re able to save a precious few. They require a special habitat and care, and it’s a challenge to keep them calm and comfortable.

If you find one of these birds on a sidewalk or sitting stunned anywhere, please approach slowly to avoid flushing them back into the window. Gently toss a shirt or cloth over the bird and place them in a paper shopping bag. Close the bag securely and bring it to WBF or a wildlife rehabber near you. These birds can’t survive their injuries if released right away, so bringing them into care offers the best chance.

Help a woodcock by donating! Visit bit.ly/wbfdonate🙏🏽

📷: Phyllis Tseng

As far from a marsh, ecologically, as one could ever want to be, this marsh wren was found concussed beside a window at ...
10/29/2025

As far from a marsh, ecologically, as one could ever want to be, this marsh wren was found concussed beside a window at Brookfield Place in downtown Manhattan. Fortunately a tireless Project Safe Flight volunteer with NYC Bird Alliance was on patrol and scooped him up. He’s been at the clinic for 2 days now. Initially he was quiet and puffed up, but with care and time has become more active and has displayed a healthy appetite.

In his milieu, this little acrobat is known for a signature move, clinging to marsh reeds in a wide straddle, each foot gripping a different reed. All the better to grab insects or just showing off?

This bird was one of more than 100 window-collision victims we received over the weekend into Monday. When they’re scooped up right away, and brought to a wildlife rehabber, birds have a better chance of survival. Left on the sidewalk, they can be stepped on, swept up or preyed on. If allowed to fly off, they may succumb to concussion hours later and meet the same fate.

We hope to send this wren back out to continue migration. Marsh wrens are not typically long-distance migrants, so this one might only have a few more nights of travel before settling in for the winter down in Virginia or the Carolinas.

📷: Andrea, Getty

Three more BIG nights of migration brought us an additional 120 window-collision patients this weekend. They come from 3...
10/28/2025

Three more BIG nights of migration brought us an additional 120 window-collision patients this weekend. They come from 31 different species!

Here are some beautiful faces representing just 22. Not pictured: American bittern, American robin, blue jay, pine warbler, Nashville warbler, marsh wren, Swainson’s thrush, house sparrow, Lincoln’s sparrow.

White-throated sparrows make up a full third of these patients, with 40 brought to the clinic this weekend.

We’re treating concussions, eye injuries, shoulder injuries and more, while keeping all their special diets in mind. It’s an enormous challenge for our team and our limited resources. If you’d like to help, please consider donating! We are funded almost entirely by the donations of kind individuals. Visit bit.ly/wbfdonate ✨

And remember: Window collisions are preventable. Turning out lights at night and adding markings to the outside of windows are the simple solutions. If you live or work in a building that regularly kills birds, please say something! Talk to the management. There are many good products and design solutions. Bird-friendly windows are beautiful windows.

This big juvenile red-tailed hawk collided with a window on the Upper West Side. She’s strong and has no signs of rodent...
10/24/2025

This big juvenile red-tailed hawk collided with a window on the Upper West Side. She’s strong and has no signs of rodenticide or other serious underlying conditions so we suspect a scrape with another raptor prompted the accident.

Juveniles struggle to find territory this time of year, and conflicts with resident adults are common. Life is challenging for all wild creatures, but that first year is a hard one.

This hawk, named Teddy, hit the window on her right side, injuring an eye and likely sustaining a concussion. As is common with concussion victims, she came in feisty and alert, but gradually became less stable over the course of the day.

This is an example of why we ask that you not release a bird that has collided with a window. The injuries may not manifest right away, and an active bird can rapidly decline later.

We’re providing all the medications and care Teddy needs, including just-in-case treatment for rodenticide, and we truly hope to see improvement in the coming days.

Your donations make this work possible! You can help this beautiful hawk. Or any of the 400 patients we have in care. Visit bit.lywbfdonate to donate.💕

📷: Terra Tirapelli

10/23/2025

The flicker’s flash of yellow is one of the greatest gifts of fall. Here’s one leaving our care last week, and doesn’t that yellow look even more beautiful?

This is one of more than 20 Northern flickers we’ve admitted since September, all victims of collisions with reflective glass.

Fall migration is slowing down just a bit, but many more birds will pass through on their way south before the season ends. Help keep them safe by turning out lights at night and fixing any problem windows by applying markers to the outside. If you don’t have control of your building’s exterior, talk to the building owners, co-op board or management. Information is the first step.

🎥: Cynthia Vasquez

It’s been a tough week here. 😔 We’ve received an incredible whirlwind of patients following three nights of heavy migrat...
10/20/2025

It’s been a tough week here. 😔 We’ve received an incredible whirlwind of patients following three nights of heavy migration.

On Thursday, we admitted 71 patients. On Friday, 72 patients. And yesterday we admitted 90 patients.

The vast majority are window-collision victims, woodpeckers, woodcocks, warblers, creepers, vireos, so many sparrows and two red-breasted nuthatches, including this beauty, who collided with a window on the Upper West Side.

Even as our small clinic is brimming with tiny, injured birds, we know that these are the precious few survivors. Many more died on impact all over the city.

You can help. Please spread the word! Window collisions are preventable. Turning out lights at night and adding appropriately spaced markings to the outside of windows are the simple solutions. If you live or work in a building that regularly kills birds, please say something! Talk to the management. There are many good products and design solutions. Bird-friendly windows are beautiful windows.

You can also help our patients. Please visit bit.ly/wbfdonate to help a nuthatch, woodpecker, sparrow or any of the 200+ species that come through our doors.🙏🏽

📷: Phyllis Tseng

Look how happy our furry foursome are in their soft release cage! Another big thanks to Rockland Wildlife Rescue & Rehab...
10/19/2025

Look how happy our furry foursome are in their soft release cage! Another big thanks to Rockland Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation and the Hudson Valley Humane Society.

Hello, golden-crowned round one.👑The sweetest, smallest visitors of fall, golden-crowned kinglets can be heard throughou...
10/18/2025

Hello, golden-crowned round one.👑

The sweetest, smallest visitors of fall, golden-crowned kinglets can be heard throughout the city right now if you know to listen for a high-pitched dee-dee-dee. Harder to see, these tiny tornadoes are just 3-4 inches, but their fierce expressions and flaming crowns are impossible to forget once you’ve had the pleasure.

This little one collided with a building notorious for its hazardous windows, Circa Central Park, and was one of the lucky few who lived to tell about it. We hope that we’ll be able to send this one back along his way.

Window collisions are preventable! Turning out lights at night and adding appropriately spaced markings to the outside of windows are the simple solutions. If you live or work in a building that regularly kills birds, please say something! Talk to the management. There are many good products and design solutions. Bird-friendly windows are beautiful windows.

And donate to your local wildlife rehabilitators! To support our work, please visit bit.ly/wbfdonate

📷: Phyllis Tseng

Merch alert! We’ve just released a new series of tees and totes in our online store.👕Behold four new designs — baby pige...
10/17/2025

Merch alert! We’ve just released a new series of tees and totes in our online store.👕

Behold four new designs — baby pigeon, baby owl, fledgling Carolina wren and an Eastern gray squirrel — all inspired by specific WBF patients and based on paintings by the talented Esther Koslow. Esther is a longtime WBF volunteer, and her paintings are always hot items in our online auctions.

Visit our Threadless store to start shopping (and helping our patients): wildbirdfund.threadless.com 🦉

10/16/2025

Four more fur babies are out the door! There they go into the semi-wild, exploring their new temporary digs and adjusting to the sights, sounds and scents of the outside world. These Eastern gray squirrels were all displaced from their nests as babies and raised by WBF wildlife rehabbers.

The soft-release stage is essential to giving human-raised squirrels the best possible chance of surviving in the wild. It takes squirrels time to find reliable sources of food and safe places to sleep, so they need a gentle transition.

We’re immensely grateful to Rockland Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation and the Hudson Valley Humane Society for hosting these young squirrels in their GORGEOUS soft release enclosure. Our precious wildlife depend on an intricate network of partners in care, and we’re so happy to work with new friends.

Please follow both of these orgs if you don’t already!

🎥: Jenny Lee Mitchell

Well, it appears I’ve gotten myself into another fine pickle.🥹A week ago, Silver was hobbling around Herald Square barel...
10/15/2025

Well, it appears I’ve gotten myself into another fine pickle.🥹

A week ago, Silver was hobbling around Herald Square barely able to use his feet, invisible to the crowd flowing over him. Today he’s the center of attention, getting a fresh foot wrap.

This pigeon had a bad double case of stringerfoot. The tightly wrapped string had to be removed under anesthesia, and one toe was amputated. Antibiotics, pain medications, treatment for parasites — he got the works!

This scrappy pigeon has come up in the world, even if he’s not fully aware of it yet. Once the wounds heal, Silver should be feeling a lot better, walking without pain and getting into fewer pickles.

📷: Michelle Talich

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565 Columbus Avenue
New York, NY
10024

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Monday 9am - 7pm
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Wednesday 9am - 7pm
Thursday 9am - 7pm
Friday 9am - 7pm
Saturday 9am - 7pm
Sunday 9am - 7pm

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Keeping NYC wild

The only wildlife rehabilitation center in New York City, the nonprofit Wild Bird Fund treats more than 7,000 patients a year, including red-tailed hawks and peregrine falcons, as well as gulls, robins, songbirds and, yes, lots of pigeons. Squirrels, opossums and groundhogs too! The city can be a tough place for wildlife, but it’s also a thriving habitat, with more than 250 species of birds recorded in Central Park. We aim to keep it that way. To this end, we also provide wildlife education programs to schools and organizations throughout the city. We do all this through the generous donations of many caring New Yorkers.

Photo: Groucho, the Eastern screech-owl by Ardith Bondi