First Babies of 2012

We admitted our first baby birds of the 2012 season in the form of two little Great Horned Owlets. These two came from separate nests and are of different ages. Great Horned Owls are very early nesters (they begin nesting in January here in Wisconsin), and they are usually among the first babies to arrive at our clinic each year.

This Great Horned Owlet was found in Marathon Park in Wausau on the ground. Her parents were nowhere to be found so a trusted volunteer caught her up and brought her to REGI. She is approximately 6 weeks old. She is fairly thin and it is likely that her parents abandoned her.

This little Great Horned Owlet was found on the ground in the northwoods. He had fallen approximately 50 feet from his nest onto the ground. The kind people that found him noticed his sibling had been killed by some crows. To save him from the same fate he was brought to REGI. This owlet is younger than the first at only about 10 days old. His egg tooth can still be seen at the tip of his curved bill. This little white bump on his beak helped him to break out of his egg just a few days ago. It will soon fall off and he will be left with a perfectly normal-looking beak. (To see a video of this little owlet eating his supper visit our YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/raptoreducationgroup)

Aside from the babies we also admitted a few adult birds. One of those birds was this Mourning Dove with a broken wing. Mourning Doves are very common and frequently overlooked, but they are really lovely birds. The beautiful blue around the eye and their black spots make them quite stunning. Their mournful cooing call gives these birds their name, and they may coo back to you if you mimic them. The loud whistling sound they create when they fly is produced by the feathers of their wings and not the voice of the bird. These doves tend to hold tight and take off at the last moment which makes them fairly vulnerable to being hit by fast-moving vehicles.

This adult Mourning Dove came in with a broken right wing. The wings have been taped together to allow the bones to heal in the proper position. 

On Friday we were visited by Dr. Shelli Dubay's Techniques of Captive Wildlife Management class from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Dr. Dubay's students make a yearly trip up to REGI to learn more about avian rehabilitation and education. They get a rare look into the lives of avian rehabilitators and get to learn a little more about why we do what we do. They also get to meet a few of our education birds and learn what makes a raptor. We look forward to seeing them and Dr. Dubay each year! This year the class got an extra treat in the form of a mid-April snowstorm. After having 80 degree weeks in March we were greeted Friday morning with three inches of beautiful snow. It's hard to get bored with the weather in Wisconsin! It's always changing!

The captive wildlife management class from UWSP are photographed in the aftermath of Thursday's mid April snowstorm. 

In the spring some of our education birds begin to lay eggs. To prevent breeding we typically don't house males and females together, therefore the eggs aren't fertilized. Like chickens, a natural process in a wild bird's life is to lay eggs whether they're fertilized or not. One of our education Eastern Screech Owls surprised us the other day with two beautiful eggs. After she realized that they weren't going to hatch she easily gave them up.

These two perfect eggs were laid by one of our little Eastern Screech Owls. The size of these eggs is quite surprising since the little owl that laid them is hardly taller than 6 inches. 

This is the pretty little red-phased Eastern Screech Owl that is the "mother" of the unfertilized eggs in the photo above. Pretty shocking that this little lady laid eggs with a larger diameter than a quarter!

That's all for today. Thanks everyone!

Karissa Mohr
Wildlife Educator

Patients Pour In, Barred Owl, Saw-whet Owl, Mourning Dove and Visit from UWSP Captive Wildlife Class

( Photo: This Barred Owl had a bit of bad luck. He has both a broken wing and a broken leg.)

Spring certainly is in the air. The warm temperatures brought with it baby birds earlier than any other year. While the calendar says it is April, the breeding birds seem to think it is May. I just hope the Warblers and other more delicate birds hold off arriving in Northern WI until later in May when our chance of freezing weather is minimal.

Dr Shelli Dubay brought her Captive Wildlife Class from UWSP here for a field trip on Friday. It is always a great class. We are excited to show them around and cover as many aspects of captive wildlife care as possible in the two hours they are here. It is exciting for us to know their bright minds and energetic spirits will be working with wildlife for many years to come.



( Photo: Dr Shelli Dubay's Captive Wildlife class from UWSP tours the REGI clinic as I explain what happens when birds are admitted. Two birds were admitted during the field trip.)



( Photo: An adult Saw-whet Owl with a fractured right wing spent some time on the ground without food as it is near starvation.)

A Saw-whet Owl was admitted with a broken wing during the time the UWSP Captive Wildlife class was at REGI. The little one, is an adult but weighs only 54 grams. That weight indicates starvation. The little owl must have been injured a few days previous and spent some time on the ground before it was noticed and brought to REGI. We re hydrated him and put him on heat to bring his body temperature back up to a normal level.



( Photo: A baby Mourning Dove was admitted after a homeowner found it in her dogs mouth. Thank goodness it was a retriever. Note to pet owners...Do you know where your pet is and what it is doing?)

I took a call very early in the morning from a homeowner in Mosinee, WI. Her dog brought home a baby bird the night before. She looked for a nest but was not able to locate it. She keep the little one warm and brought it to REGI soon after contacting us. It turns out it is a baby Mourning Dove. The nest of a Mourning Dove is a weak structure which consists of few sticks. It looks more like "a few sticks" on a branch than a nest. I am not surprised the nest was not located.

Mourning Doves drink crop milk from their parents crop rather then being fed in the more typical open mouth gape most people associate with baby birds. It is an interesting twist in the world of birds.



( Photo: UWSP Captive Wildlife Class tours the Eagle flight building to learn the importance of conditioning or birds before release to the wild as well as specifics of housing raptors.)



( Photo: UWSP Captive Wildlife Class got to visit with several of REGI education birds up close with Education Coordinator, Molly McKay and Education Director, Steve Fisher.

It is sure to be another busy day. We have high winds today. For us that means baby birds being blown from nests and adults occasionally colliding with solid objects like trees as they are buffeted around on wind currents. Wildlife rehabilitators see life so differently than regular people.:)

Have a great day everyone.

Marge Gibson ©2010