Busy Day with Six Admissions, Saw-whet Owl, Broad-winged hawk, Coopers Hawk, American Goldfinch, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Mourning Dove

( Photo: This adult male Coopers Hawk was admitted from the Mosinee area. He has stunning red eyes. He was shot illegally and has a wing fracture. )



(Photo: This Saw-whet Owl weighed only 54 grams when admitted.He has a broken wing. His prognosis is very good for a full recovery. )

We are often asked to describe a typical day here at REGI. The thing is, we don't have a "typical" day ever. Each day is new and different with both challenges and joys. A few days ago we took several more calls than usual after our normal hours. By morning we had five patients waiting for transport from the Wausau area. Oddly each patient has a broken wing.

The Saw-whet Owl above was likely hit by a car near Hatley, WI. He was in the middle of a highway when spotted by an alert driver. He has a wing fracture but has a great prognosis for a full recovery. That would not have been the case had he not been removed from the road. The tiny owl is also low in weight. Migration exhaustion could be the cause of his low nutrition. When birds migrate they lose weight. If the little one landed in another Saw-whet Owls territory ( breeding has started for this species) he would be chased out. Finding a comfortable place to hunt and relax is not as easy when resident birds are breeding.



( Photo: A cat got this male American Goldfinch. Cats mouths harbor deadly bacteria. Birds injured by cats need immediate antibiotic treatment if they are to survive.)

American Goldfinches are lovely little members of the finch family. Our most recent American Goldfinch is a brightly colored male. In the spring and summer we admit hundreds of cat caught passerines. This tragedy has an easy "fix" if only cat owners understood the importance of keeping their pet indoors, especially during this sensitive season. Adult birds are often killed while defending their nests or young. In the end it is not one bird killed by a cat, but the entire family if the parent is not longer there to feed babies.



( Photo: Lance Holm examines a Broad-winged Hawk with a wing fracture. )

Broad-winged Hawks travel as far as Argentine for the winter. We admitted an adult male with a broken wing. Broad-winged Hawks are fascinating. They are demure and chunky looking members of the buteo family just as Red-tailed Hawks. This patient likely just arrived from his winter migration when he was hit by a car.



( Photo: This male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker broke his wing, but is comfortable in captivity as he heals. He loves the hang out on a vertical perch and eats tons of waxworms. If you look close you can see a waxworm in his mouth. )

As always it is the public that finds these birds and brings them to us so they can have a second chance at life. Thanks everyone for stepping up and helping the wild ones when they are injured.

I have been occupied with the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill. I will post news articles that ran during the past few days. I am on call to go to help out, but no one knows where the oil will come ashore or when. There are many more unknowns than solid facts at this point. We are organizing to respond when needed.

Going along with that thought. A friend, Ed Clark, posted the warning below on his blog. I will use it because he said it well.

"Many groups are soliciting fund to help oiled wildlife in the Gulf. WATCH OUT! The only group working this spill is Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research. They are being paid by BP! Others claiming to be caring for oiled wildlife are either not telling the truth, or doing something other than removing crude oil from ...feathers! Watch out for predatory fundraisers capitalizing on your compassion!"

Have a great day everyone.

Marge Gibson 2010

Busy REGI Day with Babies, Birthday and Releases

(Photo: Six week old Great-horned owl when admitted to REGI.)

Babies are springing up all over these days and tumbling into the REGI facility.

Tis the season for Great-horned Owlets to leave their nest. Young Great-horned Owls hatch in February in our region. They are the season’s earliest nester. Owlets typically leave the nest before they can fly. There are lots of biologic reasons for that and it works out to their advantage once the owls reach adulthood. The problem occurs if they are in an area that is close of human population centers. People cannot help but notice these adorable little fluff balls. As a result they are often picked up and taken into captivity. We have taken many calls this spring about Great-horned Owlets. Most of the time our role ends after advising the finders it is a natural part of an owlet’s life. We encourage people to try to make certain the little one is healthy and in no imminent danger from domestic animals such as cats of dogs and then to leave the area and let the youngsters be cared for by their parents. The parent birds are after all the best ones to raise their own babies. If the owlet has been injured, has truly fallen from a nest site too early and cannot be put back, or is an orphan, we can rear it here at REGI. All raptor orphans that come into REGI are raised by foster parents of their own species. They hardly know they are in captivity, and are not imprinted to humans, but there is no way that we can ever hope to do better than their own parents. It is a very costly process just in terms of supplying the young owls with enough natural food until they are hunting on their own and can be successfully released in October Mice cost us about $1.00 each. Great-horned Owls at age 4 -6 weeks can eat up to 13-17 mice a night each. They are little rodent eating machines. That is one reason they are so wonderful for the environment. When you do the math of how many days it is from April to October, you can see the dilemma.

We have one owlet in at this time. He is about six weeks old and is from the Wisconsin Rapids area. He is the victim of having fallen from a weak nest site which collapsed during a storm. The storm raged on and he was on the ground for thirty six hours. That was time to take action and bring him into captivity. We are very lucky to have Nicki Christianson; a State of WI permitted mammal rehabilitator in the WI Rapids area that helps out in emergency cases such as this. She took him in for the night during the storm and was able to give him emergency care and a safe place to be until her could be transported to REGI in Antigo the next morning.

Were it not for Nicki and other rehabilitators throughout the state and country with whom we network and our transporters, in this case Judy Marshall, that bring patients to Antigo, many patients would die before they ever got to REGI.

The owlet from WI Rapids had some internal bleeding from the long fall and was weak from his adventure, but within a day was placed with his foster parents. He will have minimal contact with us from now on. We supply food to the enclosure and the adults do the rest. We could learn so much about being parents from the wild avian world. The adults both male and female take over feeding and caring for young quickly and without question. Most importantly the youngsters need not be their own.

( Photo: Foster mom Great-horned Owl with injured GHO owlet)

We will handle the little one only when he has intermittent physicals to chart his growth rate. We will share photos of those events on this blog.


It is also the season also for ducklings to be hatched. Four newly hatched mallard ducklings found themselves in a storm sewer in Wausau, WI yesterday morning. A city of Wausau Police officer was their hero andn ours when he took time to get them out of the sewer. Mom and the other young had long since left the area so they were brought to REGI to be reared until they are old enough for release. They are eating well and we expect all will survive their harrowing beginning. A big thanks to the Wausau Police Department and the Marathon Country Humane Society for their help. ( Photo: Four Mallard ducklings warming up after being admitted to REGI)


Our long time friend and environmental educator, Steve Fisher had a birthday earlier this week. The REGI team is as close as many families. We use every opportunity to celebrate and have cake and goodies so birthdays are celebrated with great enthusiasm here. Congratulations Steve!
( Photo: Steve and the REGI team gather to celebrate Steves birthday.)


Releases are always a time of celebration. Several birds were released back to their wild home yesterday. Some we don’t have photos yet and will share during the upcoming week. A male Coopers Hawk in the photo below could hardly fly with the crop filled with food I gave him before her left REGI. He is just a year old and still has brown plumage and yellow eyes. Once he is an adult his feathers will be gray in color and his eyes dark orange. It is great to see them well and back out on their own.



It is stacking up to be yet another event filled day. Spring is HERE!

Best to all,

Marge Gibson © 2009

Three Bald Eagles Admitted Within 24 Hours

(Photo: Tribal Conservation Warden Don Waukechon holds Bald Eagle he rescued)

REGI is always a busy place, but the past 24 hours have brought three new eagle patients plus an adult male Cooper’s hawk, an American Goldfinch and several Pine Siskin. I am going to begin using the patient numbers to better identify them for everyone.
The first adult Bald Eagle (# 142-09) had been seen on the shore of Lake Superior for several days. He was weak and was dragging a wing. His left wing is fractured. We are concerned he may have hit a power line. The feathers on the left wing appear to be singed. Electric burns take a few days to demonstrate themselves. He is a beautiful adult male bird in the prime of his life. Our focus is always to get the bird back into their natural environment however that is not always possible. If the bird is not able to make a 100% recovery we give it the best possible option for a full life even if that is in captivity. It could be placement in an educational facility or working as a foster parent for young orphaned eagles that come into rehabilitation. When young birds are reared by foster parents they do not imprint on humans.


(photos: Don Gibson examines wing of bald eagle patient from Lake Superior #142-09 and in pnoto below the wing is washed and treated.





About 9 P.M. Tribal Conservation Warden Don Waukechon received a call about an adult Bald Eagle found in a wooded area near Neopit. The eagle (#143-09) was unable to fly. Don is a long time warden and has rescued many bald eagles in the past. This time was no different. Don was able to capture the bird and bring him to REGI for care. This bird is also an adult male bald eagle. He is an older bird. He is very thin at 5.6 lbs. He was having seizures when he arrived. We did blood work on admission. He is anemic. His blood lead is within normal range, so this time it is not lead poisoning. Lead poisoning is so common in bald eagles I begin to assume it is the problem until the testing comes back. We suspect he has encountered a toxin of some kind and will continue to test him until we find the problem. The eagle was able to keep down a small amount of food and is digesting which are both good signs. His convulsions while still present are slowing in both interval and intensity.
( Photo on top of blog page)

Gus Frank found an immature Bald Eagle (#144-09) near Crandon, WI late afternoon today. (4-15) Gus gave him the Indian name Na Kwe ga Boe which translate to “The lights always shine on you”. The beautiful three year old male was found on a roadside and was likely hit by a car.


There are no obvious fractures but he is very weak. X-rays will have to wait until he is in more stable condition. With the risk of internal bleeding high with this type of impact injury keeping the bird as quiet as possible and in a low stress environment is the most important thing. He did receive vitamin K to help stop internal bleeding. He is becoming aware of his surroundings.



( Photos: Na Kwe ga Boe when he arrived at REGI was lethargic and bleeding internally. Na Kwe ga Boe up close)



The Coopers Hawk (#140-09) is a beautiful adult male bird. He was likely hit by a car. He has a serious head injury but even the twelve hours since his admit ion the head injury has improved. He also has a broken wing. Wing injuries while serious, are something we can fix. We have a very good success rate with wing fractures. Head injuries are less straight forward. The same complications occur that plague human patients after a head injury. This patient is spirited and full of life however and that is always a positive thing.


( Photo: Adult male Coopers Hawk is a spirited bird.)

So far everyone is doing well. The bald eagle that was impaled on a stick about 10 days ago has begun flying short distances. She has received two rounds of treatment for her lead poisoning. She has another blood test tomorrow to see if she will need another course of treatment.

Thats all for now.

Busy in Antigo,
Marge