Meeting Place For People Interested In Corvids
If you accept every being, every sentient being, has his or her own personality as an individual, it is not difficult to connect to that being, beyond species affiliation. If that being is in need of help, you help, because as humans we are capable of altruism. That is, to care for “others” if they need help, regardless whether we benefit from our action or not.
The answer to this questions depends on ethical values and how these are applied by both, the finder of a bird in need of help and the rescue or rehabber taking over its care. The need for a suitable environment, a suitable diet, to be able to exhibit normal behaviour patterns, to be housed with or apart from other animals and to be protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease are just a few very basic animal welfare standards, which should always be taken in consideration. In addition to these animal welfare standards, there are further ethical values to consider, which have to be evaluated to be able to give a thorough answer to this question.
Continue reading “How To Find A Corvid Friendly Wildlife Rescue Or Rehabber?”
Editor's note: An updated and republished version of this blog post is available by following the link below. Cats, Cars And Wildlife
What have cats, cars and wildlife in common? Cats are domesticated companion animals, cars are manmade machines, and both are able to kill living beings when not supervised or controlled. Cars kill cats and wildlife, and cats kill wildlife too. Neither of both scenarios is ‘natural’, both are artificial and manmade. So what is the impact, and what can be done to keep both, our beloved companion cats and wildlife, safe?
Continue reading “Cats, Cars And Wildlife”
It is with great sadness that we have to announce the loss of our residential jackdaw Puck, who became a true friend and member of our mixed human and non-human family.
Puck has been brought to us in August 2015, after she has been found lost and wandering disorientated the streets approaching people randomly. It became quickly apparent that Puck was an imprinted hand raised bird, who may have been escaped or intentionally released. At admission Puck showed marked deficiency signs, which have been most likely caused by a suboptimal diet and care.
A grounded premature rook or crow with white, brittle or partly broken wing and tail feathers needs expert and longterm care to allow the damaged feathers to be replaced during their annual moult. Birds affected should not be released before their complete annual moult, which happens for fledglings born this year in the summer of the following year. Otherwise it will be unlikely that these birds are going to survive their first winter, as the deficient plumage will quickly deteriorate further. This usually means that these birds will eventually become grounded. They will get easily wet and hypothermic, are prone to predation and will soon be unable to sustain themselves.
Continue reading “Plumage Problems In Wild And Captive Corvids”