An influx of injured birds has created a funding crisis at the region's only Wild Bird Care Centre. The centre, on Moodie drive, has seen a 35% increase in the number of injured and orphaned birds, sending costs soaring. There is a combination of reasons: more birds are crashing into windows and more people aware now where to take them for help.
An increase in demand means an increase in cost for this donation-run facility.
Avian care technician Christine Henderson drops mealy worms into “Indy’s” open beak. Indy is an American Kestrel and a permanent fixture here at the Wild Bird Care Centre after a poorly mended broken wing by someone who had initially rescued him.
“The wing healed really badly,” says Henderson, “so he can never fly because of that.”
Most of the winged visitors at the Centre, however, are there for a short time while they heal, like the tiny fledgling American goldfinches. It takes a lot of time and money to fill their tiny bellies.
“It costs about $100 a year,” says Barbara Adams, a board member with the Wild Bird Care Centre.
The centre operates primarily on donations and never before have those donations been more urgent.
The centre was started in 1981 with one little bird, a ruby throated hummingbird called “Pip” which was rehabilitated by the centre’s founder Kathy Nihei. This year, the centre will see thirty-three hundred birds through its doors. That represents a 35% increase over previous years, in part because of birds crashing into windows.
“People come and bring birds that have survived window impacts,” says Adams, “and there's an awareness of the centre that hasn't been there before.”
That increased awareness drew Heather Clemenson and her husband Gary Hall, who stopped by for the first time and dropped off a donation.
“I just love the birds,” Clemenson says, “we love them at home and so it's nice to think somebody will care for the wild ones when they're injured.”
But that increased care comes with a cost of $300-thousand dollars a year. So, for the first time, the centre is giving wing to a new idea: a crowd funding campaign called "Birds of All Feathers." The goal is to raise $100-thousand dollars to help cover this financial crunch.
“They don't get funding from anywhere else,” says donor Barry Denofsky, “and if we don't pitch in, we're going to lose facilities like this.”
In addition to helping thousands of injured birds a year, the Centre answers 20-thousand phone calls and emails from folks wondering how to care for wild birds. Their on-line campaign runs until the end of the year. You can check it out through their website at: www.wildbirdcarecentre.org
