EarthWings - raptor care and rehabilitation

When we receive a call about a bird that needs to be taken into care, the first thing we need to know is where the bird came from. This information is critical when the bird is ready for release back in to the wild. Many species of raptorial bird are territorial, and even those who are not aggressively territorial will have a far better chance of survival if they are released back into an area with which they are familiar. Imagine if you had to go into hospital, and were then discharged back to an unfamiliar city, with nothing more than the clothes on your back! It would not be a pleasant experience. Wouldn't you rather go back to your own home? The same applies to wildlife. They have homes and families, too.

The first step when admitting a bird is to conduct an assessment. We must determine:

What species does the bird belong to? (This will determine its dietary, housing and rehabilitation requirements.)
What is the nature of the bird's illness or injury?
Is the bird in shock or dehydrated?
What is the bird's most urgent requirement?
What must be done in the next twenty four hours to keep the bird alive?
What is the prognosis for this bird?
What programme of care and rehabilitation must be developed to return this bird to the wild?

The bird must be stabilised and taken to a veterinarian with a sound knowledge and understanding of raptor medicine for a check up. X-Rays, pathology, surgery and/or drugs may be required. While many veterinarians are kind enough to provide their services free of charge, they cannot afford to provide us with free radiology, pathology, anaesthesia and drugs, but they often bill us at cost, rather than adding on a profit margin, which means that most vets don't make anything at all from wildlife care. The best they can hope for is a revenue neutral exercise, and given that we take up an appointment and/or theatre slot, it usually means they are making a loss by helping us. This is why all wildlife carers have to carry out fund raising activities in order to survive. Even the Australian Taxation Office leaves us alone for the most part. The only people who make any money off wildlife care at all are the banks who charge us fees on our accounts! Everybody else contributes something, be it money, time, work or materials.

Once the bird has been treated, it must be given fluids and nutrients. With birds who are very sick or badly injured, they must be given what we term, "high dependency primary care." High dependency primary care involves treating the bird for trauma, shock and dehydration. The general rule of thumb is to assume that the bird has already lost approximately ten percent of its body weight through dehydration. Raptors do not drink very much, if at all, so it is necessary to rehydrate either by giving subcutaneous fluids (via injection under the skin) while the bird is under anaesthesia for x-rays or surgery, or via a crop or gastric tube. For birds which are severely dehydrated and emaciated (starving) we start out with an electrolyte solution, such as gastrolyte, along with any drugs prescribed by the vet, to restore the balance of fluids and minerals in the bird's body. If you've ever been dehydrated and had your electrolyte balance adversely affected, you will know how uncomfortable it was: you probably had a headache, felt very ill, and had some painful cramps. Birds and animals go through the same thing when they are dehydrated, too. After being given fluids and first aid, the bird is then placed in a specially made heated hospital box. If it is very weak, it will be propped in as comfortable a position as possible, using towels.

As the patient's condition stabilises, the tubing mix is changed. Instead of a simple electrolyte solution, the bird is given liquid nutrients to restore its strength. The solution given is usually made up of simple amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) carbohydrates, avian probiotics (yes, birds need probiotics, too, just like us, only they can't digest milk products, so they have to have a special milk free preparation) and any drugs prescribed by the vet.

As the bird becomes stronger, the mix is literally "beefed" up with vitamised kangaroo meat or very lean beef to add more protein and some bulk. This stimulates the bird's appetite and will help it to recover.

Wounds are treated according to the same advanced wound care principles used in human medicine. Wounds must be kept clean, warm and moist to promote rapid healing and minimise scarring. We use the same kinds of dressings that doctors and nurses use in human hospitals and clinics, trimmed down to bird size. Dressings are changed as required.

When the bird is ready to start taking solid food again, it is offered a bowl of chopped up meat with very little fur, feather and bone. Since raptors very rarely eat chopped up food out of bowls in the wild, we often need to encourage them by offering the food using forceps. Once they realise that those weird looking chunky things are actually food, they generally start eating for themselves. Within a few days, the birds are usually eating whole food. Different species have different diets, and the food offered will depend on what that bird normally eats in the wild.

Intra-medullary pins (steel rods inserted into a bird's hollow bones to help heal breaks) are removed six weeks after surgery. Wounds are treated, dressed and constantly reassessed. Antibiotic treatments are continued for a full course, and followed up with probiotic treatments. Head injuries are constantly reassessed as these can take up to four months to heal properly.

As the bird regains strength and mobility, it is moved from the heated box and put in a larger one. Birds have very little idea of what convalescence is about, and don't know how to "take it easy." If placed in a large aviary immediately after an injury or illness, they can literally kill themselves through over exertion, flying around and trying to behave normally to the point of exhaustion. For this reason, we stage patients up gradually, first moving them to a larger box, then to a small aviary called a "staging mew" where they can fly a few wing beats, then into a full flight aviary where they can fly around and get fit again. Throughout the process, they are given lots of nutritious food so they can build up their muscles and their body strength.

Some species, such as wedge tailed eagles, require enormous aviaries in which to fly. These aviaries cannot fit into suburban back yards, so birds such as these must be transferred to large facilities such as the Eagles Heritage Raptor Wildlife Centre in Margaret River, where, out behind the publicly accessible part of the park, there is seven acres of space dedicated to raptor rehabilitation. Other species, such as peregrine falcons, require free flight, and these birds are transferred to those people with the skill and experience to train and fly the birds, a bit like an athlete having a personal trainer to get them into shape for the big game!

When the bird is fully fit and ready to return to the wild, it is taken back to its old home and released. This is the happiest moment for the wildlife carer, as he or she watches the bird launch itself skyward and disappear back where it belongs. If the person who initially found the bird is interested, they are usually invited to attend the release and see the results of their good deed in helping the bird in the first place.

It can take months of hard, messy work to return one bird to the wild, and sadly, we can't save them all, but any wildlife carer will tell you that it is a labour of love and worth every moment and every heartbreak to watch a bird return to the sky with a second chance at life.

If you are interested in becoming a wildlife carer or volunteering at a centre, contact your local wildlife authority.