BIRDS - Injured; Rescued; Displaced; Surrendered

UPDATE - Has been reunited with her owner tonight! Had flown from Shepparton supposedly aiming to end up in St Albans but got a bit lost and ended up in Surrey Hills. Was on a training run (as she is a racing pigeon) and was released with a few thousand others from various home locations at the same time. Being quite young they think she had followed some of the other birds who were heading east to their own homes then ended up lost in Surrey Hills, exhausted and hungry. After a few days with us she is now back home with her own flock.

This sweet little pigeon was found in Surrey Hills clearly lost. If you think it's yours or know where it's home is, please get in contact with us. Proof of ownership would need to be provided.

We are looking forward to attending this amazing puppet show this Saturday which highlights the vulnerability of our critically endangered wildlife as well as those who are already sadly extinct. Aimed at children who are our future guardians of our planet, will hopefully make an impact that can bring about change.

ARC — Erth Visual & Physical Inc. ERTH is in development of a new work with young people, that highlights the current crisis of the mass extinction of species. ARC will be a scalable and site-specific participatory theatre work designed around a menagerie of naturalistic critically endangered and extinct animals.

We were called out recently to an urgent rescue of a corella entangled in a basketball net. In her efforts to free herself she had only made it worse. When we arrived we found the rope wrapped tightly around her neck with one leg swollen and bleeding from the rope burns it had sustained as well.

With a ladder onboard we were able to quickly reach her and cut her free, removing and disposing the rope from the ring as well so as other birds wouldn’t also get caught up in it.

Due to her injuries we took her straight to the Melbourne Bird Veterinary Clinic who assessed and kept her overnight giving her treatment for her sore leg. She was released into care the next day to continue her rehab with the aim to release her back to her family in the wild once fully recovered.

This confident little female galah sought out humans for help as was clearly lost and trying to find her way back home. We would love to help her. Found around the Keysborough area, if you or someone you know have lost a similar bird and can prove she is the same, please get in contact with us.

Another of our ‘naked’ residents. Ruby the eclectus had been plucking her own feathers out for years before she came to live with us. Each time she grows some new feathers we hold our breath hoping she will let these ones grow in, but then she just pulls them back out again. Some new ones have appeared today and we are holding our breathes again……

We had a couple of new arrivals to our rescue over the weekend, one of which was little Laurie.

Laurie is a rainbow lorikeet whose owner had had for around 6 years. He came into her care already having a stress related self plucking issue, and unfortunately we have found that many birds, once they get into this self destructive habit, find it very difficult to get out of it, even when no longer in whatever stressful situation had triggered it to begin with.

We believe that when the new feathers do grow back they are itchy and uncomfortable when coming in, so the bird plucks them out all over again, and so the cycle continues.

Laurie joins our little flock of several other ‘naked’ birds with the same issue, and we hope to possibly over time help him (and the others) break out of this bad habit.

Breakfast prep for birds done.

Now, what shall us humans eat for dinner?? Toast it is!…..

Frost Warning Please be aware Temperatures at ground level can be many degrees lower than those recorded by standard weather stations, especially in calm conditions with very clear skies.

This fiesty Muscovy duck was spotted wandering the streets of Doncaster over the last couple of days and a concerned resident decided to try to help him before a fox did.

She called numerous wildlife and animal rescue organisations, the local council, the local vet, but none would help due to it being non native. Luckily a call taker at one of the places she called decided to pass on the details to me and I contacted the resident immediately. She was very grateful as was very worried he wouldn’t survive another night ‘in the wild’ with either a fox or dog hurting him or even possibly getting hit by a car.

I had just finished work so wasn’t dressed to rescue nor had the equipment onboard I would have preferred to use, but as I was close by headed straight there. The gorgeous duck was being watched by some caring residents who had offered him food and water and he was happily eating and drinking in a front yard. After a quick chase and initially avoiding my net I was able to catch the duck and check his condition. He was very healthy with no injuries which was a relief. The little one is now in our care as we search for his family.

This sweet little ring neck parrot was found in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, clearly seeking out humans for help. We would love to reunite her with her family. She has some distinctive characteristics that they would know. If you have lost your feathered friend and have proof she is yours, we would love to hear from you.

This cheeky little one landed on the shoulder of someone at a Bunnings store in the Eastern suburbs. Clearly a lost pet searching for its lost human, we now have the sweet rainbow lorikeet in care as we help to continue the little one’s search. Has some unique characteristics that it’s human would know. Please contact if you think you recognise it.

This beautiful white pigeon was spotted huddled in a corner at a train station in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne by a kind passerby. Not appearing to be able to fly, he was able to scoop it up fairly easily and kept it warm & safe in his coat pocket as he took it via public transport to the wonderful vet team at Melbourne Bird Veterinary Clinic.

They assessed and found that it had had a recent wing clip which would explain its inability to be able to fly very well. After treating for a small mouth canker it has come into our care as we search for its owner.

We try to remain positive about people and hope that this little one was so well loved its owner clipped its wings to ensure it wouldn’t travel too far from home, so hopefully they are within the vicinity of where it was found in Bayswater.

The other alternative is that the owner no longer wanted it so clipped its wings to prevent it from being able to fly itself home and dumped it at the train station.

We are hoping is the first theory.

If you recognise this little one and can provide proof of ownership, please let us know.

This handsome pigeon was found with a badly injured foot (believed run over by a shopping trolley) and handed in to the amazing team at Melbourne Bird Veterinary Clinic. They assessed and performed an amputation of one of its toes then we took him into care to continue with medication for some time whilst monitoring the healing of his foot and recovery.

After a follow up visit a little while later he was deemed ready for rehab so we moved him into a larger aviary for flight practice for him to get used to life minus a toe. He managed beautifully so has now gone into our main loft where he has joined our resident flock who are released each morning to fly free, then return on their own by dusk to sleep safely inside each night. We were thrilled to observe him flying free outside the loft not long after moving in, and returning on his own working out easily how to go in and out the opening.

Thank you yet again to the amazing vet team at Melbourne Bird Vet for giving this little guy the chance he deserved.

Dovey now has a friend.

We had a call from someone who had noticed a spotted dove in their backyard unable to fly. They were able to fairly easily catch it and bring it to us so they we could assess. We had assumed possibly broken wing or injured from cat attack, but didn’t expect what we soon discovered was the problem.

Somebody had clipped the little dove’s wings rendering it flightless.

A deliberate act done, why we cannot fathom. The feathers will eventually grow back, but why do this? The dove being unable to fly was limited being able to escape from predators, being able to safely perch up high, or even to fly around to search for various food sources. What a cruel senseless thing to do which was more or less a death sentence.

Now in our care along with Dovey, the new little one will be with us now until the feathers have recovered. This could take around 12 months or so.

Greenie LOVES almonds!

Update on little Dovey. Bandages/tape have now been removed from her wing and she is no longer needing medication. Is filling out a bit too compared to the skinny little thing that first came in. Such a sweetie.

This young cockatiel was found weak and unable to fly and handed into a vet in the Western suburbs of Melbourne. The vets were not sure if the poor thing would make it as was not in a good way. Assuming had been out ‘in the wild’ for a while and unable to fend for itself.

But after receiving care, warmth and food by the excellent vet team the little one rallied and is now flying and alert.

We would now love to reunite with its family.

If you are missing a similar looking cockatiel and can provide proof of ownership, please contact us.

Another pied Lorikeet has come into our care that was found and clearly lost. This one was found in the South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Has some unique characteristics that the owner would know. If you believe this may be your bird please contact us with proof of ownership. We would love to reunite you.

Update on little Dovey, the spotted dove with the broken wing. She is quite fiesty and impatient to be healed, so she decided to rip off her own wing sling/splint earlier this week. We took her straight back to the vet who placed another on, securing it with tape so hopefully she will leave this one on! Back for a checkup next week.

This beautiful pet lorikeet was found in the western suburbs of Melbourne. It has some specific characteristics that anyone claiming is theirs should know. If you believe is yours please contact us with proof. Would love to be able to reunite you.

This juvenile spotted dove came into our care today. She had been attacked by a cat but luckily was rescued by a member of public who took her to a pigeon friendly vet. She was diagnosed with a broken wing and due to obvious puncture wounds from the cat has gone straight onto a course of antibiotics.

We will monitor the healing of her wing, giving her pain relief and continuing her antibiotics with weekly visits to the vet to check how she is going.

Hopefully the wing will heal properly enabling her to be able to fly again. We are also hoping she got onto the antibiotics in time to stop any infection from setting in as cats mouths can carry a huge range of nasty bacteria.

Stayed tuned for updates. Any suggestions of names for her welcomed!

We received a report of a badly injured spotted dove inside a cricket net at a public sporting ground. From the looks of it the poor bird appeared to have been attacked by another animal as there were signs of a struggle with lots of feathers on the ground, and open bleeding wounds on the dove.

The caller had apparently contacted some other animal rescue organisations who upon hearing it was a spotted dove, refused to help as they deemed the bird ‘feral’ and ‘non-native’.

But the bird was clearly in agony, unable to fly, and needing help. Did it matter what type of bird it was??

When we got the call we rushed straight there.

Upon arriving discovered that the cricket cage it was inside was locked so we were unable to gain access. With some careful manouvering of my long handled net whilst lying on my belly (in the muddy grass) and sliding it underneath the narrow gap under the fence, I was able to gently coax the bird towards me then squeeze an arm under the fence and grab hold of the shivering dove in my hand. But he was too big to be able to slide back under the fence to get him out! I looked around and noticed that the padlocked gate had some give in it, so if I could push the gates apart as far as the lock would let me, the dove should be able to fit between the gap. So whilst still holding him, I wiggled along towards the gate, my body on the outside of the cricket cage, the dove held in my hand on the inside with my arm squeezed under the fence. At one point the dove struggled free and I had to start over again. I was so worried he would move out of reach of my net but luckily he didn’t. I think although he was frightened he somehow knew I was trying to help.

Finally we got to the gate and I was able to pull my closed hand through the gap under the padlock with the dove in it.

He was in a bad way and getting weaker by the minute. I gently placed him into a basket with a soft towel made into the shape of a nest and rushed him to a pigeon friendly vet.

I had a feeling his injuries were pretty bad but held a little hope that perhaps they were just superficial and he may stand a chance. The vet carefully examined him and confirmed they were extensive. Both external and internal. The kindest thing would be to euthanise. At least he is no longer suffering.

Our rescue was created to help ALL birds. Native or non-native. If there are feral or non-native birds here, who brought them?? Us humans did. So we are responsible to help them when they are injured, sick or needing help.

You may recall that we posted recently about a found large white patterned pigeon that had been handed into a vet and was now in our care.

Well we had a message from a vet nurse at another vet in the same area who saw our post, who let us know that they had also had a pigeon handed in recently that was a similar type, and the finder had mentioned that when they found the pigeon it had been with another one that was predominantly white, but the white one had flown away, so they had only managed to catch one of them. They wondered if the one we had was that one.

Now for those who may not be familiar with pigeon love, it is a truly beautiful thing. They are monogamous having the one life partner, and are very affectionate, constantly kissing, canoodling, preening each other, and reaffirming their love for each other. Each season the male will court his ‘wife’ all over again, they are true romantics. We could all learn from them! So when we get solo pigeons in who are either lost or injured, we know that there is probably a mate out there searching and missing them, and we can see the ones we have in care often going through a mourning process when they first come in. So we love being able to reunite families.

When we heard that there was the chance to perhaps reunite this couple we were tentatively excited, hoping that they were indeed a match.

The wonderful vet nurse came and picked our female bird up to take to what we hoped was her husband, and we waited in anticipation to hear of what we hoped was to be a reunion.

It wasn’t long before we got word. They were definitely a pair! The reunion was apparently beautiful, with lots of kissing and cooing and excited snuggling between the two. They are now back together! Happy tears all around # #

Happy World Vet Day to all of the amazing veterinarians and staff. You have saved and helped so many little lives for us. Thank you # #

We currently have around 50 domestic pigeons in our care. Majority if not all of the pigeon specific rescues and their foster carers are full with birds that have been displaced or surrendered and looking for permanent homes. Pigeons seem to be looked down on by many people. Referred to as ‘rats with wings’, most vets euthanise any that are handed in if found considering them a pest species.

But did you know, that pigeons played a major part during the first and second world wars and were considered heroes? Carrier pigeons were used to send short messages on land, in the air and at sea. Pigeons were sometimes the only reliable way of getting vital messages back to their home coop behind the lines. When they landed, wires in the coop would sound a bell or buzzer and a soldier of the Signal Corps would know a message had arrived. The soldier would go to the coop, remove the message from the canister, and send it to its destination by telegraph, field phone, or personal messenger.

A carrier pigeon's job was dangerous. Nearby, enemy soldiers often tried to shoot down pigeons, knowing that released birds were carrying important messages. Some of these pigeons became quite famous amongst the infantrymen for whom they worked. One pigeon, named “Spike”, flew 52 missions without receiving a single wound. Another, named Cher Ami, lost his foot and one eye, but his message got through, saving a large group of surrounded infantrymen.

Pigeon No. 498 (pictured), was sent for help by Skipper Thomas Crisp when he was attacked by a German U-boat. Crisp was killed but, despite being wounded in one wing by shrapnel, the bird delivered the message in time for help to be sent to the crew.

A pigeon which saved four lives (pictured) struggled against a gale with a message from four airmen who had come down in the sea. The bird died from exhaustion upon arrival but saved the life of the 4 men.

An RAF pigeon (pictured) was claimed to have flown 22 miles in 22 minutes to deliver a message that helped with the rescue of two wrecked seaplane pilots.

Pictured is also a carrier pigeon being released from a port-hole in the side of a tank. The Tank Corps often used carrier pigeons to relay information during an advance.

Carrier pigeons often flew through heavy artillery fire and risked injury, This pigeon pictured was shot in its left eye whilst carrying message from a British seaplane attacked in the North Sea. Despite the injury, the bird was still able to deliver the message to its destination.

So today, this day of reflection to those who served to protect us during wartimes, take a moment to also think of the animals including the humble pigeon, who played a vital part as well.