BRRRRR its cold outside now and the birds need some extra food for winter!Just like we pack on the food during winter so do our animals in rehab. Not only do they need lots of food to help in their healing process but now with winter here they need extra food to aid in their recovering. We were a little short staffed early in the morning and it was so cold! i was assigned to ICU until some more people showed up so I started my normal rounds with the ever so curious Virginia /Darwin the Owl watching my every move. We also had a cute little burrowing owl in a brooder who was so cute with her puffy round little body!
Luckily about an hour later more people showed up and off to Rehab I went. I had missed the majority of the raptors being fed the kestrels, Red Tailed Hawks, Peregrin Falcons, Cooper's' Hawks and now the turkey vultures were being fed. When I arrived to the enclosure my team members were in discussion right outside the pen. Apparently there was a peregrine falcon in the enclosure too and the Turkey Vultures were picking on him! Every time he went to a perch the closest Turkey Vulture would peck at him poor little couldn't perch anywhere, he was hanging onto the walls! We weren't sure how or why the peregrine was in with the Turkey Vultures it was an odd combo but luckily our Med services on hand saved the day by catching the peregrine and taking him to his own cozy enclosure!
These turkey vultures are VERY mean in ICU so i was nervous about going in their pen with them. One is bad enough but 3? they can peck you really good and with all the bacteria they eat you really don't want them to peck you open and therefore letting all that nasty bacteria in! I went in their enclosure with their food and they were surprisingly calm! They just sat on their high perches watching as I went around and put their food on various stumps. ( The above pic is of our Education Turkey Vulture, Bailey)
Next up was the aviary and the cute little seed and insect eaters! There was a section that contained a cute little Montezuma quail and her baby. The Montezuma Quail is actually an endangered species so it was really fun to see the mamma and her baby , hopes for their species getting nice and healthy to be introduced back into the wild! We also had some red winged blackbirds in there that were singing their beautiful songs! I personally love bird calls and am hoping Santa brings me a bird watching kit this Christmas ( fingers crossed) so I loved being in their section listening to their calls while I cleaned and fed the hungry little birds!
Next up was the last few raptorial birds which included CUTE little burrowing owls and SharpShin Hawks. I went into the owl enclosure and a silent panic occurred. In flight these owls were so quiet while flying all i could hear was them landing and just feel the movement of air from their wings. They all went to one stoop on the back and it was funny to see a bunch of little owls all crowded on this little space! The sharpshins next door were a lot more cantankerous, they were flying back and forth going crazy! They were also were messy, I felt like i was taking care of a teenager hawk, messy and wild!
We finally ended the day with the coot and if you have never seen Coot feet before take a look. They are so funny looking!
Hope the links are helpful, ill work on recapping more often, school is winding down so I should be doing better soon! :)
