An Incredibly Busy Weekend!

Hello everyone. Boy, did we have an absolutely crazy weekend here at REGI. The education team held a special event celebrating migratory birds and the rehabilitators admitted over 14 new patients! I've selected just a hand full of the patients to introduce you to now.

These two Barred Owlets came from the same nest but on two different days. Their condition suggests that they have been affected by rodenticide. It is likely that their parents were hunting and caught a mouse (or a few mice) that had consumed mouse poison. Not knowing that the mice contained poison, they fed the mice to their babies and probably ate some themselves. The parents may have become too weak to hunt or care for their young, leaving them very ill and orphaned. These two have luckily been rescued by caring individuals, but sadly there may have been more in the nest that have not been found. Their condition is poor, but they are growing stronger each day. Soon they will be placed with our adult foster father Barred Owl. Click here to watch a video of these two Barred Owlets gulping down their lunch. 

This adult Barred Owl was hit by a car near Weston, WI. He may have injured his tail which is essential for flight. We will continue to monitor him for improvements. His expression says it all... he doesn't feel well. 

This Sandhill Crane colt (baby) was found orphaned in Minnesota. His rescuers kept an eye on him for over an hour with no sign of the parents. When they were certain that his parents weren't coming back for him, they caught him up and took him to Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota (WRC). Rehabilitation centers frequently work together for the best possible outcome for the patients. REGI is known for successfully raising Sandhill Cranes, so WRC transferred the little tyke here to Wisconsin. He is the first crane colt of the season here at REGI, but will likely not be the last. 

This little guy has had quite a terrifying experience. Someone was mowing their lawn and was unable to stop in time or swerve around this little fledgling. Luckily for this little guy, the mower blades were high enough as to not chop him to bits. He survived with a few abrasions but things could have been much worse. At this young age identifying the species can be tricky. We are tentatively thinking that he is a Song Sparrow, but he just may prove us wrong. 

Another Great Horned Owlet has joined the family. Like the Barred Owlets mentioned earlier, this little owlet is likely a victim of rodent poison. She has been placed with our foster father Great Horned owl whom you can see in the background of this photo. The owlet looks giant in the photo, but that's only because she's much closer to the camera lens. 

This female domestic bronze Turkey has found herself lost. She weighs over 30 pounds and thinks she is a lapdog. This turkey is clearly someone's lost pet and wants to find her way home again. If you know someone who has lost their pet turkey near Antigo, WI, please give us a call. (715) 623-4015.

This past Saturday, May 12th was the 20th anniversary of International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD)! IMBD falls of the second Saturday each May and was created to celebrate birds and motivate the public to become involved in bird conservation. To get the community of Antigo involved in IMBD and excited about birds, we held our second annual "Celebrate Birds" event in Antigo's city park. We kicked off the day with a morning hike along the Springbrook trail boardwalk. Our quaint little group got to see wonderful migratory birds like Soras and Common Yellowthroats. In the afternoon we headed over to the city park for a live bird show and fun activities. I took a few photos of the festivities. Enjoy!

There was a station where children could design bird masks to look like one of their favorite species of birds. Ella is creating a male Indigo Bunting and Manning is creating an Eastern Screech Owl.

Manning's mask looks awesome! He sure looks like an Eastern Screech Owl :)

There was a station to build pine cone bird feeders. The kids didn't mind getting their fingers full of peanut butter one bit!

Ethan looks pretty pleased with his bird feeder!

There was a game designed to challenge kids to think about the function of differently shaped beaks and how each beak is perfectly designed for the food that the bird eats. Ella got every single one right! Great job!

At the end of the event people were able to build their own blue bird houses! The pieces to the houses were sold as kits and were all cut out and prepared by one of our wonderful volunteers, Denny Stenstrom. Thank you, Denny, for cutting the lumber for these wonderful houses. We have plenty of extra blue bird house kits if any one out there is interested. We are selling them here at REGI for only $10. We also have completed blue bird houses on sale for $20. Sorry, we cannot ship the kits or the houses, but you can pick one up if you visit us for a summer tour. Click here for more information about REGI summer tours!

Alex and his father completed their blue bird house perfectly. It looks great! I love that he built the house while wearing his Bald Eagle mask the whole time!

We had a wonderful time at our "Celebrate Birds" event! We would like to thank our volunteers for helping us prepare and run the event and everyone who came out to celebrate International Migratory Bird Day with us. We look forward to next year!


That's all I can fit in for today! Molly and I are just about to head out for an evening program at Maine Elementary near Wausau, WI. It should be a fun night!
Thanks everyone!

Karissa Mohr
Wildlife Educator

Keep a Lookout for Barred Owls

We are admitting more Barred Owls than usual right now and it has to do with the last few snow storms we received. We had a large snow fall, then warmer weather so some of the snow melted, then another cold snap so everything froze again, and then another large snow fall. This means there is a layer of ice sandwiched in the snow, and the ice is the problem.

In the winter, owls can hunt mice through the snow. They have such terrific ears that from a couple dozen yards away, they can hear mice moving around and tunneling under a foot and a half of snow! They then do something very special called snow-plunging, in which they dive toward the snow with their talons outstretched. They use their force to break through the snow and gather their prey. Larger owls, such as Great Grey Owls are strong enough to break through, but the slightly smaller Barred Owl cannot break through the layer of ice in the snow.

Photo above: This photo shows a Great Gray Owl snow-plunging. I borrowed this photo from the internet, and it is a beautiful depiction of the behavior I described. (Photo credit: Jody Melanson/Solent)

If you see an owl out during the daytime, it may be because they're having a hard time finding food. Usually owls are active in the evening and over night and can find enough food during those hours. Under conditions such as we have now, it is harder for them to find enough food during the time they usually would so they have to compensate by hunting during the day as well. To make things even harder for them, this is the time of year when they begin laying eggs and raising young. Developing an egg inside the female's body can be an exhausting task, and they generally lay between 2 and 4 eggs per clutch. Not having enough food during this time can result in fewer or no young for the season.

Because they're hunting more frequently and desperate for food, they may have more run-ins with humans than normal. We admitted a Barred Owl yesterday that was struck by a vehicle. It was likely that he was so intent on finding food that he wasn't aware of the vehicle approaching until it was too late and it struck him. Unfortunately, this owl lost his battle during the night, but you can help to prevent a similar loss by driving carefully and keeping a watchful eye.

Photo above: This is the Barred Owl from the last blog post. He was the first of three Barred Owls brought to us in the last few days. He is suffering from starvation, but is slowly regaining weight and strength. He is showing signs of kidney failure, a consequence of his starvation, but we will continue supportive care. Here, Rehabilitation Technician, Alberta Halfman, is preparing to tube feed him.

Photo above: Alberta is inserting the tube for feeding in the second Barred Owl admitted suffering from starvation. In raptors, females are generally about a third larger and heavier than males, but this female currently weighs less than what a healthy male should weigh.


Please keep a lookout for all birds that need help. Barred Owls are having a particularly hard time right now because their diets aren't as varied as, say, a Great Horned Owl, and they aren't powerful enough to break through the icy snow we have. Barred Owls also tend to make themselves obvious when they need help; they may be reluctant to fly when approached or they may even flop down in front of you as you may have read in the last blog entry.

If you would like to donate items to help these owls, we are in need of baby food. We use meat-only baby food for tube feeding patients suffering from starvation.

If you find a bird that you think may need help, please give us a call. Our rehabilitation phone number is (715) 623-4015.


Thanks everyone!

Karissa Mohr
REGI Wildlife Educator