Birds, according to a wildlife rehaber

General Info

This page will focus primarily on the unqiue personalities of various birds you only get to see when you have to put up with them as a full time job. It will evetually include illustrations, bird call audio, and some other fun stuff.

I've done my best to explain terms as I use them, but since you'll probably read these out of order, I'll go over a few vocabulary words.

• Bird codes: We use abreviated bird codes to refer to many of the animals at the facility (ex. NOMO, NOCA, CAWR, etc). It's a lot shorter than writing out the full bird name, and quicker to say sometimes too.
• Begging: Begging is the behavior baby birds use to get themselves fed. It usually involves a small squat, flapping wings, and an open mouth. Usually very cute, and it makes the job of feeding them a LOT easier.
• Bird jail: Bird jail is where the naughty birds go. It's usually a small plastic box with air holes, which is typically used to hold birds while we change their cages, but it's also great for when a bird keeps jumping out of his cage while you're feeding his siblings or otherwise being a jerk.
• Crow Chow, Parrot Chow, Insectivore chow, and PB Crumble: These are the various diets we prepare and feed to our birds. Visit The Kitchen to learn what they're made of (Doesn't exist yet)
• Bird Season: Bird season takes place during the summer, and is the time where the vast majority of the animals we have are birds. Coincidentally, I only work on summers, so it's the only season I'll be talking about in detail. Spring and fall mostly consists of opossums and squirels, while winter is pretty quiet.

Important notices

If you find an animal in need of help, do NOT attempt to adminster it yourself. There are SO many ways to accidentally murder animals if you don't understand enough about them. Baby birds will get fluid in their lungs if you don't shove food and water far enough down their *very* small and fragile throats, and other animals have similar issues as well. There's also many cases where an animal that appears to be an abandoned baby is just waiting for its parents to come back, so moving it could lower the chances of its surival since bird parents are typically a bit better at raising baby birds than humans are. It may also be tempting to raise a baby animal as a pet, but this is 1. probably illegal (depending on where you live) and 2. would forever alter the life of an animal that will be happier in the wild. Instead, call the nearest wildlife rehab center and explain the situation, and follow their instructions. If you can't find a good one, try Animal Help Now to find the nearest one that can care for the particular kind of animal. This is not to say that all wildlife rehab centers are perfect, nor that formerly untrained people can't learn how to care for an animal themselves. However, rehab centers will on average be able to provide better care due to training and matierials, so in the vast majority of cases it will be better for the animal.

Also, for those of you who have outdoor cats, please be aware that they will not only hunt and kill wildlife, but their saliva contains bacteria that is very dangerous for birds, so even if a bird escapes after being attacked, it will probably die a slow and terrible death, and possibly spread the illness to other birds as well. Cats can severely damage the population of native songbirds and other creatures, so please consider keeping them indoors or otherwise take precautions to prevent attacks.

Explore the Facility!

The Bird Room

The Sick Ward

The Kitchen

Isolation

The Hospital

The Turtle Room

The Aviaries

If you've enjoyed learning about wildlife here, please consider donating to your local wildlife rehab center to support them. It's hard work for low pay, and we're always in need of more supplies. If you've enjoyed my awesome writing style and wish to learn of my other creative endeavors, here's my youtube channel (music) Geckoatmeal Youtube and my instagram (art) geckoatmeal instagram