Injured Birds

The Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries has a comprehensive list of the licensed wildlife rehabilitators statewide. You can search for rehabilitators by city or county. Select the link below for the listing.

Dept. of Game & Inland Fisheries Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitators

There are many simple things any individual can do help avoid bird and wildlife injuries:

• DO NOT throw trash from your vehicle or litter along roadsides. Each year many birds are injured (or killed) by motor vehicle collisions. When trash is thrown from a car window, the litter attracts small rodents to the road side, and thus attracts raptors and other predators to the road as well. Please, help keep our roads litter-free.
• DO NOT place your bird feeders too close to large windows and install silhouettes on large windows to reduce window collisions.
• KEEP CATS INSIDE – or if you have outdoor cats, keep them inside during the early morning and late afternoon when birds are most active. Cats are one of the largest contributors to bird mortality in the United States.

Be very careful! Be sure an animal is truly orphaned before assisting. Sometimes fledglings are left alone while their parents are searching for food. Often the adult may simply not be present when you discover such a suspect, but will return within a short period of time. So watch for a several minutes to see if an adult returns to care for his or her offspring. If not, these youngsters usually need further rehabilitation in order to survive. If you feel a young bird is orphaned, call the A.R.K. hotline at (804) 598-8380.

How Prevent Window Strikes

The “Consumer Guide to Window Strike Prevention” explains what works, what does not work, compares the cost of approved options, includes DIY directions for all the systems, and even information about window washing. There are links to all the commercial suppliers and to many DIY  YouTube videos. It only includes the systems tested by the American Bird Conservancy (ABC). It also includes netting recommended by the Cornell Lab.

It is written by a retired Nader consumer advocate who has installed all of the commercial systems and fabricated all the DIY systems.

Commented the author, Jim Cubie, “I developed this guide over a three-year period after this catbird died hitting my front glass storm door.Installing all these systems helped me to understand their  practical benefits and drawbacks – as well as the questions homeowners have.”

It includes the ABC’s threat ratings so that consumers will understand which systems are the most cost effective.

The Guide can be downloaded at https://birdfriendlyyards.net/consumerguide/