Ilkeston Wild Bird Rescue (2026)

16/01/2026

This beautiful goose, Gerty came into us on the 30th December. She had spent a week at Birley Moor vets for pets in Sheffield after being found in a nearby garden.
She was suspected to have a pelvic injury, and wasn't able to stand. The wonderful vets kept her for a week while providing daily pain relief in the hope she would improve.
She then came to us to finish her rehabilitation.
She has daily water therapy and physiotherapy, and from not being able to stand at the vets, she slowly healed and regained her strength.
She's still wobbly, but she has made incredible progress, and is now up and walking again.
It's been an absolute privilege to take care of her, and although she still has a way to go before she can be released, we have no doubt that she'll make a full recovery.
We've grown to love her so much, there will be no dry eyes when it's time to let her go. 🥹💕

Please consider us for a donation if you're able to. It helps us to keep running and continue to help more birds in need.
Thankyou. 😊

https://www.paypal.me/RiversWBRescue

05/01/2026

This woody has abit of a strange story, but it also shows why it's important to keep feeding wild birds over winter.
We were waiting for a friend/rehabber coming down from Sheffield, when she messaged to say she'd picked up a woodpigeon from the vets with a huge lump of canker in his throat and asked me to have rehydration fluids and canker medication ready.
When they arrived, we opened his mouth to see if we could get a tube down into his crop safely, when we saw his mouth and throat was blocked by a huge lump of something, which initially looked like canker when it's drying up after being treated with canker medication.
We got some tweezers and a torch, and carefully removed what was there.
We then discovered it was a beechnut/acorn, and his throat was full of them.
We were able to carefully remove all of them, and then get a tube down to rehydrate him.
He was that hungry, he had gobbled down what he could find, which almost killed him.
He's now being cared for in Sheffield by an amazing rehabber, and has already started eating again by himself. (Small seeds, and is also on metacam to help ease the pain from any injuries that the beechnuts could have caused to his mouth, throat and crop).

This is why it's so important to feed the birds all year around, as alot of people stop putting food out after Summer.
They need it now more than ever, especially with the awful weather that's making it more difficult for them to find food.

You can make such a difference to birds lives by putting some food out everyday, and even a bowl of (warm) water (to stop it freezing so quickly). 💕

27/12/2025

Update: Cygnet sadly passed away on the 29th 🥺

Update 28th:
He's alot stronger this morning and has managed to have a good drink. He's also stood up and walked around a little bit, but can't stay up for long.
He's still critical, but we have a little more hope today. 🤞🤞

This poor cygnet came into us today from Chesterfield, he was lifeless on admittance but still managed a tiny hiss while we assessed him.
We tested for Avian Flu on admittance and got a strong negative.
We did however find wounds all over his body. His head, neck and wings have been injured, and he has a huge infected wound under one wing.
My initial thought was a dog attack, and after speaking to a couple of experienced swan rehabbers, it was confirmed.
Which means this was completely preventable, simply by dog owners keeping their dogs on a lead around wildlife. 🥺

Please, when you walk your dog around any kind of wildlife, keep them on a lead. Despite now being on antibiotics and pain relief, this poor cygnet isn't likely to make it through the night. 🥺💕

25/12/2025

We would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, and thank each and everyone of you that have supported us this year.
From interacting and sharing posts, to the kind donations that we've had in all forms this year.
We couldn't do this without your support, and we are truly grateful to all of you.

Merry Christmas guys. 🥹💕

(We will remain open today and throughout the new year, so please reach out if you find a bird (or any animal) that needs help). ❤️

21/12/2025

On the 15th November, we spotted one of our previous patients in a bad way, we looked back at camera footage and saw that one of our neighbours cats had managed to catch her while she was down feeding.
She was sitting by our door, but upon trying to pick her up, she managed to fly up to the roof. (How she flew so well with the injury, we didn't know). We spent hours trying to coax her down, but we couldn't get close enough to catch her.
It was getting dark and she flew from our roof with the others, to return to where they roost.
She comes every single day for food, but on the 16th, she didn't return. On the 17th there was still no sign of her, and we knew time was running out due to the toxicity of the cat saliva, the pain she must have been in, and the risk of infection.
On the 18th, I was working on the avaries and she appeared, flew down, and sat at our back door. I managed to catch her, and immediately gave her antibiotics in the hope there was still time, despite it being days since she was attacked.
We didn't think she was going to make it, but we knew we had to try.
Here she is a month on, almost completely healed, flying around our aviary, going from strength to strength.

We hope this shows that no matter bad something appears, with time, care and love, it can get better.
They're always worth trying for. Lacey's story is living proof. 🥹💕

15/12/2025

MISSING: Please share

This beautiful Harris Hawk has been missing for 5 days now, and her family really need her home.
She's a young bird, and flew away after being attacked by Gulls.
She still has her bells on, so can be heard flying around.
Last seen this morning at the petrol station on Derby Road.
She paid us a visit yesterday but unfortunately we couldn't coax her down.
The gulls are following her and screaming, so if you see gulls circling and acting 'strangely', it may be an indication that she's around.
Please share and help get Ivor back home for christmas. 🤞
Any sightings at all, please message us and we'll pass the information straight on. 💕

17/11/2025

Hopefully going to their new home on Monday. ☺️

These 4 beautiful chickens came to us from Beeston Rise Care home.
All 4 were hatched there and have grown up with the residents and been wonderful therapy. They're featured in the care homes tiktok videos from tiny chick's to the age they are now.

https://www.tiktok.com/?_r=1&_t=ZN-91TMQx96WP8

Due to no fault of their own, they weren't able to stay, and came to us to be cared for before finding them an amazing coop to call home.
They are friendly and love cuddles. We have Deli, Bolt, Pingu and Sunshine.
There are two hens and two roos. 7 months old. All have been health checked, and have been tested for Avian Flu, with a wonderful negative on all 4 tests.
If you could possibly offer these 4 incredible birds a 5* home with all the attention and cuddles they deserve, please drop us a message. 💕

(We won't split them. We'd like all 4 to go together and stay together as they're all bonded).
Homecheck applies, and the government's current rules on housing must be adhered to).

31/10/2025

Stringfoot - We often get asked what Stringfoot is, and what we do at Stringfoot Superheroes - Nottingham

Stringfoot is what pigeons get when they slowly gather string, hair, thread, and so on around their feet.
It eventually cuts off circulation, and the pigeon eventually loses their toes, or even entire feet.
Everytime you discard abit of thread or string from packaging, or brush your hand through your hair, leaving the bits of hair you shed, the pigeons pick it up on their feet.
We try and get out as often as we can to destring pigeons in Nottingham town centre. Some we manage to catch and remove before there's any permanent damage, but sometimes we don't see them until it's already too late.

Here's the worst case we've had yet.
This little guy was brought to me in Trinity square whilst we were out Stringfooting. The lovely Jay who used to volunteer for stringfoot groups in Yorkshire, is now down here working with us.
He got a train and walked all the way to us to see if we could help this sweetheart.

Upon seeing his feet for the first time, I said it would likely be an amputation of the foot, as it was in such a bad way with a bad infection already set in.
We got him home, gave him painkillers, and waited a while before working on his feet. We started with a nice warm soak of his feet, took pictures, and then set to work.
It took a total of two hours, but we were able to remove all of the hair, string, dead skin, and mud.
Sadly, our sweet boy lost two toes during this, one from each foot, which were only being held on by the string.
He's on pain medication and antibiotics daily, and he's already a different pigeon.
We've saved as much of his feet as we can, and will monitor him closely throughout the next few weeks.
If he does require surgery in the future, we shall make that happen, but for now, he's thriving since coming in. ☺️💕

31/10/2025

AVIAN INFLUENZA

As I'm sure you've heard, Bird Flu is at an all-time high right now, even affecting birds at the lake near to us.
We've thought long and hard about what to do in regards to our approach to bird flu, to continue to help birds, but also keep the birds we already have safe.

We decided that we will continue to take all species of birds, but any species susceptible to Avian Flu must be tested at the gate before they come onto our property.
(Waterfowl, Gulls, Birds of prey).
So please contact us beforehand with pictures, videos and as much information as you can. (Please don't just turn up).

Now, here is the bit I hate the most, having to ask for help. I understand that we do this voluntarily, and it is completely our choice to help wild birds, but the costs are high, and we aren't eligible for any kind of funding. So we rely on the kind donations of the people who follow and support us.

If anyone could possibly help us with being able to buy more tests, we would be so thankful. Even £1 a person adds up.

It's going to cost £402.00 for 40 tests, which roughly works out at £10 a test.
Donations are at an all-time low, and we're struggling already.
If you're able to, please help us to continue helping them. 🥺💕

https://www.paypal.me/RiversWBRescue

15/10/2025

Wishlist Wednesday 💕

As it's getting colder, we're in desperate need of blankets and heatdiscs for our poorly patients in the hospital wing.
If anyone could possibly help support us by sending these items off of our wishlist, we and our beautiful birds would really appreciate it. Thank you 🥹💕

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/WMAXZO4TR6G6?ref_=wl_share

14/10/2025

This poor adult woodpigeon was brought into us a couple of days ago with bad canker, a mouth full of sunflower hearts and mud, and unable to lift his head up at all.
We cleaned up the outside of his beak and face, and tried to carefully remove the loose seed.
We managed to remove enough to be able to get medication and a tube down with fluids to try and rehydrate him. An hour later, he was laid unresponsive, and I lost hope. We wrapped him in a blanket and placed him on a snugglesafe heatdisc for the night, being pretty sure he wouldn't make it until morning, so making him as warm, safe, and comfortable as possible.
The next morning, I went straight to him, and he was not only alive but standing! His head remained down, and he still didn't have the ability to raise it. We gave more canker treatment, an anti-inflammatory, and another cropfeed. Later on in the day, he was walking, running, and trying to flap his wings, but his head remained on the floor.
We sought advice from another couple of rescues who have experienced this and had birds fully recover, and then came up with a plan for rehabilitation.
This morning, he was full of energy and slightly raising his head. The canker has also started to clear up.
We made him a little neckbrace to help support his head and neck while he heals. He has already shown improvement since having the brace on, so we know we did the right thing in giving him a chance. 🥹💕

Thank you to all the other rescues and rehabbers that are always there for support and advice when it's needed. I couldn't do it without you guys either. ❤️

11/10/2025

Today has been beyond busy with aviary cleanouts, and birds coming in every hour.
Here are three of the beautiful pigeons that all came in within 2 hours.

Firstly, we got this this very scared juvenile woodpigeon who is full of canker. He'd gotten so desperate for food that he had eaten grass and leaves. We were able to carefully pick all of this out, give him Ronidazole for the canker, and leave him to settle as he's very panicky. He'll receive medication and crop feeds daily until he's better, while keeping contact to a minimum to keep the experience as stress free as possible.

We then got a message about this beautiful brown and white pigeon, who was down near Aldi. He'd been attacked by a cat and after his rescuer messaged us, she boxed him up and drove him over. 🥹
He's on pain relief and antibiotics and has had his wounds treated. He's only a squeaker and still has some of his yellow baby fluff. Despite how bad the injury looks, he should make a full recovery and have a second chance at life. ☺️

We were then brought this little darling. Also, still only a squeaker. Canker, possible ornithosis and a respiratory infection. He's been treated with Ronidazole, antibiotics, and has been cropfed. He should also make a full recovery. 💕

Thank you all for any donations made. Either via paypal/bank transfer/wishlist.
It really does help us keep going. 🥹

https://www.paypal.me/RiversWBRescue

Ilkeston Wild Bird Rescue

16/01/2026

05/01/2026

27/12/2025

25/12/2025

21/12/2025

15/12/2025

17/11/2025

31/10/2025

31/10/2025

15/10/2025

14/10/2025

11/10/2025

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