volunteer flyer february 2015

8/9/2019 Volunteer Flyer February 2015

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ANNEX OPENING JUST AROUND THE CORNER

After seven years of planning the Spreading Our Wings capitalcampaign, millions of dollars raised in support of the project, andconstruction activities that started in September 2013, Tri-State’sWildlife Response Annex will open this month. We hope thatyou will help us celebrate this milestone achievement in Tri-Statehistory by joining us for an Annex Open House on Saturday,

February 21. Feel free to bring your family and friends. Festivities,including light refreshments, are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., withremarks at noon. We hope to see you there!

HAVE YOU SIGNED ON WITH VOLGISTICS?

As you may have heard, Tri-State Bird Rescue has introduced a new system called VOLGISTICS to help us bettermanage the volunteer program. Volgistics will enable you to sign up for shifts from your home computer, yoursmart phone, or the computer that we are setting up in the volunteer office.

Please go to our website—http://www.tristatebird.org —and click on the Volunteer tab. On the drop-down menu,click on Volunteer Registration to open the application form. Fill out everything you can and submit the form.Once you receive the confirmation e-mail indicating that we’ve received your application, you will be able to logback in to schedule shifts by clicking on the Volunteer Log-in button. If you have any questions or problems,

contact Julie Bartley at (302) 737-9543, extension 102. If you continue to have difficulty, she can help you signup the next time you’re at the Frink Center.

RECENT RELEASES

An adult male mallard came to us on January 3 after the Kent County (Maryland)Humane Society rescued him from illegal captivity. The duck, which had no accessto water in his previous setting, happily swam in our tub soon after admission. Wetreated his feet with Preparation H to soothe his dry feet and provided him withample opportunities to swim and self-feed nutritious duck-appropriate meals. Withhis waterproofing improved and his weight stable, we released the duck into a flockin Pennsylvania on January 11.

On January 2, volunteer Jim Amundsen transported a red-shouldered hawk from Townsend, Delaware, where it was found in the Blackbird StateForest. The apparent victim of an impact, the hawk was dazed on admission and had a cuton its right foot and some difficulty breathing. After cleaning the wound and administeringpain medications, we prescribed cage rest and kept a close eye on our patient for signs offurther respiratory distress. By January 4, the respiratory issues had resolved, and the hawkwas alert and enjoying meals of mice and quail. We cleaned and straightened its dirtyfeathers and moved the bird to a flight cage for exercise. By January 16, the hawk exhibitedexcellent flight and maneuvering skills, allowing us to release it on-site at Tri-State.

Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research

MONTHLY FLYERA Volunteer Newsletter

February 2015

Celebrating 39 years of excellence in

wildlife rehabilitation and research

Photo by snyders/moonbeampublishing Editor: Loretta Carlson

Staff Pho

Staff Photo

Staff Pho



Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research 2

We are happy to report the release of another patient from 2014, and our first release for 2015. The sharp-shinned hawk, a juvenile female found tangled in netting, came to us in late December from Camden, Delaware.On admission, her breathing was labored and she had a swollen shoulder and a foot abrasion, but radiographsshowed no fractures. The hawk was able to fly but tired easily and had a pronounced wing droop. With painmedications to ease her way, we placed her in a large outdoor cage for flight exercise. Soon she was self-feeding quail, and her flight stamina steadily improved. With her wing carriage and flight also improved, thissharp-shinned hawk was ready for release in Wilmington by volunteer Jill Constantine on January 4.

OTHER RELEASES IN JANUARY

In January, we also released a great horned owl, eastern screech owls, a ring-billed gull, a fish crow, an American goldfinch, house finches, American robins, dark-eyed juncos, a brown-headed cowbird, and white-throated sparrows.

EXCITING PATIENT UPDATES

Many of you will remember the juvenile brown pelican that hitched a ride on a barge fromFlorida to Delaware last November. The youngster was healing physically, but it becameobvious that this highly social bird needed the company of other pelicans. Volunteers Jimand Sue McVoy drove it to the Outer Banks Wildlife Shelter in Newport, North Carolina.

Staff members at Outer Banks recently gave us the good news that our former patientthrived in the company of fellow pelicans and was soon well enough for release into a localflock.

We also have news of our celebrity patient, the snowy owl dubbed “Delaware” that wasfitted with a transmitter and released at Assateague State Park last December. Since herrelease, Delaware has traveled up and down the Eastern Shore of Virginia and Marylandand crossed Chincoteague Bay. Because her telemetry device recently indicated that heractivity had decreased, she was recaptured and treated at the Maryland Zoo for asuperficial wound on her back, most likely associated with the telemetry device itself. Thetransmitter was removed, and she was quickly released. While we can no longer trackDelaware’s movements, she has been sighted several times since she was re-released and

is doing well. You can learn more about her and other snowy owls on the ProjectSNOWstorm website at www.projectsnowstorm.org.

FEATURED BIRD: BLUE JAY

The blue jay is a sassy, vocal visitor to backyards throughout the eastern and central United States. Itsupplements its typical jay jay jay and weedle-weedle calls with convincing mimics of several hawk species,especially red-shouldered and red-tailed hawks.

At 11 inches long, the blue jay is slightly larger than a robin. Its wings arebright blue with white spots and black barring. It has a light blue crest, blackcollar, long black bill, and long notched tail with black barring and white edges.The blue jay’s face markings vary widely, leading some to theorize that this

variation allows individuals to recognize one another. The crest communicatesthe blue jay’s mood: it is usually flat when it is feeding or tending to its youngand erect when the bird is frightened or being aggressive.

Blue jays eat a variety of foods, including plant matter, insects, frogs, and theeggs and young of other birds. They favor acorns, which they have been knownto bury in the ground for the winter. For this reason, many scientists credit blue

jays with the proliferation of oak trees.

Like crows and other members of the Corvidae family, blue jays are intelligentbirds with complex social structures and close family bonds. These gregariousbirds are nonetheless solitary nesters and form monogamous pairs. The female

Photo by Kim Steininger

Photo courtesy o

@Jeffrey F. Bill

The Maryland Zoo i

Baltimor



Monthly Flyer, February 2015 3

incubates the eggs, and the male feeds her during that two-week period. Both parents feed the young until theyleave the nest at about 21 days old. Young blue jays stay with their family group for up to two months afterthey fledge.

Attract blue jays to your backyard by providing peanuts, sunflower seeds, and suet on tray feeders, platformfeeders, or hopper feeders on posts. Read more about the blue jay at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About

Birds Web site, www.allaboutbirds.org, as well as in Birds of North America , published by the SmithsonianInstitution, or your own favorite birding book.

NWRA SYMPOSIUM IN PRINCETON IN MARCH

This year’s National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association (NWRA) symposium will be held in Princeton, New Jersey,from March 10 to 14. This is a great opportunity to learn more about wildlife rehabilitation and meet otherwildlife rehabilitators. Three concurrent sessions will run for four days on topics from songbirds to turtles tomammals and more. Current and former Tri-State staff members will present posters and lectures, including

“Twenty-Five Years of Banded Bird Encounters” by Dr. Erica Miller and Aimee Federer and “Beyond Raptors andParrots: Training Techniques for a Diverse Avian Collection” by Jackie Kozlowski. Sarah Tegtmeier, AndreaHowey-Newcomb, and Brie Hashem will also be presenting talks on behalf of Tri-State. For more information,visit www.nwrawildlife.org/content/nwra-symposium-2015.

VOLUNTEER ANNIVERSARIES FOR FEBRUARY

21 years: Mary Birney and Mark Cameron 17 years: Judy Rice and Roger Suro 16 years: Lucinda Petersonand Perrie Lee Prouty 15 years: Liz Gontarz 14 years: Barbara Nichols and Al Ware 13 years: SamCrothers 12 years: Dave and Donna Houchin 11 years: Rosann Ferraro, Eileen Mills, and Mary Milroy10 years: Cindy Ahern, Joan Beatty, Erin McDowell, Doug and Arlene Reppa, and Doug Stephens 9 years:

Valnéa Persak 8 years: Linda Amundsen, Janice Brink, Sharyn Fagone, Rob Romeo, and Gail Schrenk7 years: Joyce Brink and Terri Heagy 6 years: Betty Sharon 5 years: Gail Heath 4 years: Dan Cotterman3 years: Nicholas Mielnikiewicz 1 year: Marty Allen, Denise Denny, Barbara and Dan Fitez, and Bill andJoAnne Rosenfeld

TRANSPORTER TRAINING SET FOR THIS MONTH

Many people who find injured birds are unable to bring them to the clinic, so we rely on our corps of volunteertransporters to help us provide this important community service. In some cases, transporting the birds involvespicking up a bird that is already in a box or carrier. Often, however, we need volunteers who are able to capturethe birds as well. To augment our existing ranks, we are offering a free workshop on Sunday, February 22,from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for people who would like to be volunteer transporters/retrievers. Although thisworkshop is primarily geared toward beginners, experienced transporters, bird-care volunteers, and front deskvolunteers are welcome to attend. To register, contact Julie Bartley at [email protected] or by phone at(302) 7370-9543, extension 102.

WANTED: GOOD HOMES FOR COMPANION RESCUE BIRDS

Although Tri-State treats only wild birds, many of our volunteers open their homes and hearts to companionbirds. If you are interested in adopting a tropical bird, contact longtime Tri-State volunteers Vera Lee Rao

([email protected]) or Diane Korolog ([email protected]) for more information.

DON’T FORGET THE GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT

You still have plenty of time to learn how you can take part in this year’s GreatBackyard Bird Count, which is scheduled from Friday, February 13, through Monday,February 16. This joint project of the Cornell Ornithology Lab and the National

Audubon Society offers families, students, and bird lovers of all ages the opportunityto make an important contribution to conservation.

You don’t even need to leave the comfort of your home. Count birds in your ownbackyard and report sightings online at www.birdcount.org. Online resources at thiswebsite include tips on identifying birds and materials for teachers and students.

Hairy woodpeckerPhoto by Russ Carlso



Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research 4

Spend as little as 15 minutes counting birds on one or more of the designated dates. The more people whoparticipate, the better the information scientists will have about how bird populations may be changing over timedue to habitat loss, climate change, disease, or other factors.

At Tri-State Bird Rescue, we see many birds—most of them injured, ill, or orphaned. This is your opportunity tosee healthy birds in their native habitat. Don’t miss it! When you take part in the GBBC, you will not only be

enriching your own knowledge of birds, you also will be helping provide data to the ornithologists who study birdpopulations, migration, and conservation throughout the year.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Volunteer Information Sessions. All those interested in volunteering at Tri-State must attend an informationsession before they can register for a bird care workshop. These one-hour information sessions give prospectivevolunteers a good overview of our operations and expectations.

February Sessions: Saturday, February 21, 11 a.m.; Saturday, February 28, 11 a.m.

March Sessions: Saturday, March 7, 11 a.m.; Saturday, March 21, 11 a.m.; Thursday, March 26, 6 p.m.

Adult Bird Care Workshop. Saturday, March 28, 9 a.m.–1 p.m.

Grand Opening of the Wildlife Response Annex, Saturday, February 21,10 a.m.—2 p.m. We invite all volunteers and members to join us for the excitingdebut of the Wildlife Response Annex and to take a self-guided tour of this state-of-the-art facility. See article above for details.

Volunteer Appreciation Celebration, Sunday, March 22, 2 p.m. We’ve movedour volunteer recognition ceremony from December to March. This event will includedistribution of the annual volunteer awards and a fabulous free-flight bird show byPhung Luu and Jackie Kozlowski. We will share more details in upcoming issues ofThe Flyer .

Open House. Sunday, May 3, 2015. It’s never too early to start thinking about the2015 Open House. We’ll have not only the Frink Center available for tours, but also

our new Wildlife Response Annex. Phung Luu and Jackie Kozlowski will bring theirtrained birds, including “Indy,” a parrot who will accept cash donations by hand andstuff them into the donation box. Stop by and see Duke Doblick in the developmentoffice or call him at (302) 737-9543, extension 108, to learn how you can help usplan this important community event.

Phung Luu and Indy at 2014Open House

Photo by Russ Carlson

volunteer flyer february 2015

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