Imprinting of rescue bird is an often hotly debated topic amongst bird lovers, wildlife rehabilitators and rescuers, where voiced opinions range considerably. One extreme approach to this topic suggests that imprinted birds are principally unreleasable, and that once a bird is imprinted that this situation cannot be reversed. The other extreme opinion considers all imprinted birds as releasable and implies that these birds have similar survival chances in the wild compared to birds who have not been imprinted. However, own experiences and those of fellow rehabbers have shown that, and this should actually not be unexpected, the truth lies neither in the middle nor is it to find in one or the other extreme. To find an answer, it seems worth to explore some basic underlying processes, like imprinting, learning, conditioning and habituation.
Continue reading “Some Thoughts About Animal Learning And Imprinting”Jackdaw Moby – An Obituary
It is with great sadness that we have to announce the loss of our jackdaw Moby.
Moby came to us in September 2016 as an adult jackdaw, who has been at the time observed by members of the public hiding in the undergrowth and being unable to fly for more than three weeks. After we have been informed of her situation, we luckily managed to catch Moby the following day.
Do Omnivorous Corvid Species Actually Need Grit?
Some bird species have an expanded, thin-walled offshoot or pouch in the oesophagus, which is called the crop. The crop is being used to store food before it is being transferred through the oesophagus into the stomach. Corvids don’t have a genuine crop.
However, all bird species, including corvids, have two parts to their stomach. The first part of the stomach is the proventriculus or glandular stomach, where digestive enzymes are secreted to initiate the process of digestion. The second part of a bird’s stomach is the gizzard or muscular stomach.
Continue reading “Do Omnivorous Corvid Species Actually Need Grit?”Meadow Pipit Bilbo – An Obituary
Bilbo was an adult meadow pipit, who has been found seriously injured after a cat attack in February 2016. He has been rescued by kind people and brought straight to us. At admission we found that Bilbo had suffered a deep puncture wound to his chest as well as a compound fracture of his left humerus. Bilbo has been treated conservatively and all wounds healed eventually very well, including his wing fracture. However, after several weeks of physiotherapy and exercise in our small songbird outdoor aviary it became apparent that Bilbo wouldn’t be able to fly well enough to be released back into the wild, which was mainly due to an irreversible nerve injury.
So this was how Bilbo became one of our residents and also subsequently close friends with sparrow Malala. Bilbo had a wonderful, unique and friendly personality, which made us always smile when we came to his aviary. Bilbo seemed always happy and he was often chatty and very curious. He frequently followed us closely when we did the aviary round, appearing very pleased about any extra treat he would receive.
Bilbo passed away peacefully in his sleep. His death came completely unexpected, as it occured without any warning or signs of illness. We are very grateful that we had the privilege to get to know him that well. RIP Bilbo!
Crow And Rook Release 2017 – 15 Birds Released
Yesterday, we closed our release aviary doors, bringing this years’ carrion crow and rook release saison to an end. At the end of September we opened the aviary doors for 17 crows and rooks to be soft released. Out of these 17 release candidates, 15 birds, consisting of 11 carrion crows and four rooks, have been successfully soft released. Two birds decided to stay and will get another release chance offered next year. These two birds will join a group of birds in our communal aviary already being earmarked for release in autumn 2018. Out of these 15 released birds, we released three birds, who stayed with us since 2015, three birds, who came to us in 2016, and nine birds, who have been admitted in 2017.
Soft release is a release technique, which involves continuing care for animals at the release site, particularly back-up feeding, and requires a greater commitment of time and effort than a hard release does. Soft release is particularly important for hand reared animals, especially of species which need to learn about their surroundings and need to learn survival skills such as foraging and hunting. It is also appropriate for older immature or adult birds, who have been maintained in captivity for prolonged periods, or are being released at a site distant from their original location, as the original location might not be suitable.
Some of the released birds have joined straightaway our local mixed rook and jackdaw as well as non-territory holding carrion crow flock, which they already got to know very well during their stay with us. Both flocks are frequent visitors to our premises, a fortunate situation, which allows direct interaction and communication between wild birds, patients and residents. Over the past weeks some of the released birds decided to come back into the safety of the release aviary to roost, whilst others came back only to get some extra snacks. Many of them stayed in the near vicinity for longer periods of time. After becoming more and more confident, which is a learning process lasting anything between several days and many weeks, we could observe these birds, when they followed the local flocks flying further and further away from the release site, to participate in daytime activities and to eventually join the night roost.
Rook Atreo
Rook Bella
Carrion crow Castor
Carrion crow Corbyn
Carrion crow Harper
Rook Hugo
Carrion crow Joey
Carrion crow Justus
Carrion crow Magnus
Carrion crow Penthesilea
Carrion crow Stella
Rook Tadeas
Carrion crow Philander
Carrion crow Merilyn
Carrion crow Bertram
Although the aviary doors are closed now, backup feeding and shelter will still be provided throughout autumn and winter. Most of the released birds are now staying away completely, or at least for longer periods of time. Some of them are still coming back to visit their old comrades or to enjoy some food, which we will continue to provide.
When checking out the picture gallery, you will find a short summary underneath every picture telling you a little bit about the individual stories of these fascinating birds.
If you like the work we do, then please consider supporting Corvid Isle, as we are completely self founded. Please check out our support page and donate. Thank you very much in advance!