Found an injured bird?
LAS does not take in injured birds. If you have any questions about injured wildlife, please contact one of the following specialists listed below:
Nevada Rehabilitator
Evelyn Pickles runs a rehabilitation center in Dayton. She accepts all birds and mammals.
Daytime Phone: 775-883-8658
Weekdays: Injured birds can be dropped off at Comstock Printers in Carson City. (3160 N Deer Run Rd Ste 7). Hours: 7:30am - 6:00pm Monday – Friday Mike Cassidy or Evelyn
Weekends & evenings: 775-246-0470
California Rehabilitator
Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, South Lake Tahoe
530-577-2273. (530-577-CARE). Web: https://ltwc.org/
Denise Upton – Animal Care Director
ALL bird groups and many difficult species including bear, beaver, otter, bobcat, and mergansers
Please note: Nevada wildlife should be taken to Evelyn Pickles, the Nevada rehabilitator. South Lake Tahoe Wildlife is in California and birds from Reno should not be taken there under state regulations. Only those residents of California and the Tahoe Basin can bring birds to South Lake Tahoe.
Orphaned Birds
The spring & summer is orphan season. If you find an orphaned bird on the ground, it’s best to leave it alone. Baby birds will often fledge (leave the nest) prior to their ability to fly. This is common & their parents will still take care of them even if they are on the ground. If the bird is in danger, you can move it to a safer place.
More information: I found a baby bird, what shall I do?
The Cornell University Ornithology: All About Birds & U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
LAS does not take in injured birds. If you have any questions about injured wildlife, please contact one of the following specialists listed below:
Nevada Rehabilitator
Evelyn Pickles runs a rehabilitation center in Dayton. She accepts all birds and mammals.
Daytime Phone: 775-883-8658
Weekdays: Injured birds can be dropped off at Comstock Printers in Carson City. (3160 N Deer Run Rd Ste 7). Hours: 7:30am - 6:00pm Monday – Friday Mike Cassidy or Evelyn
Weekends & evenings: 775-246-0470
California Rehabilitator
Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, South Lake Tahoe
530-577-2273. (530-577-CARE). Web: https://ltwc.org/
Denise Upton – Animal Care Director
ALL bird groups and many difficult species including bear, beaver, otter, bobcat, and mergansers
Please note: Nevada wildlife should be taken to Evelyn Pickles, the Nevada rehabilitator. South Lake Tahoe Wildlife is in California and birds from Reno should not be taken there under state regulations. Only those residents of California and the Tahoe Basin can bring birds to South Lake Tahoe.
Orphaned Birds
The spring & summer is orphan season. If you find an orphaned bird on the ground, it’s best to leave it alone. Baby birds will often fledge (leave the nest) prior to their ability to fly. This is common & their parents will still take care of them even if they are on the ground. If the bird is in danger, you can move it to a safer place.
More information: I found a baby bird, what shall I do?
The Cornell University Ornithology: All About Birds & U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
I Found A Baby Bird. What Do I Do?
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/i-found-a-baby-bird-what-do-i-do/
April 20, 2014
At some point, nearly everyone who spends time outdoors finds a baby bird—one that is unable to fly well and seems lost or abandoned. Your first impulse may be to help the young bird, but in the great majority of cases the young bird doesn’t need help. In fact, intervening often makes the situation worse. Here’s how to determine whether to take action:
The first thing to do is to figure out if the baby bird is a nestling or a fledgling.
Most of the baby birds people find are fledglings. These are young birds that have just left the nest, are still under the care of their parents, and do not need our help. Fledglings are feathered and capable of hopping or flitting, with toes that can tightly grip your finger or a twig. These youngsters are generally adorable and fluffy, with a tiny stub of a tail.
When fledglings leave their nest they rarely return, so even if you see the nest it’s not a good idea to put the bird back in—it will hop right back out. Usually there is no reason to intervene at all beyond putting the bird on a nearby perch out of harm’s way and keeping pets indoors. The parents may be attending to four or five young scattered in different directions, but they will return to care for the one you have found. You can watch from a distance to make sure the parents are returning to care for the fledgling.
If the baby bird is sparsely feathered and not capable of hopping, walking, flitting, or gripping tightly to your finger, it’s a nestling. If so, the nest is almost certainly nearby. If you can find the nest (it may be well hidden), put the bird back as quickly as possible. Don’t worry—parent birds do not recognize their young by smell. They will not abandon a baby if it has been touched by humans.
If you have found both parents dead, the young bird is injured, you can’t find the nest, or are absolutely certain that the bird was orphaned, then your best course of action is to bring it to a wildlife rehabilitator. A sick, injured or orphaned baby bird may need emergency care until you can get it to a wildlife rehabilitator.
Bottom line: remember that the vast majority of “abandoned” baby birds are perfectly healthy fledglings whose parents are nearby and watching out for them.
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/i-found-a-baby-bird-what-do-i-do/
April 20, 2014
At some point, nearly everyone who spends time outdoors finds a baby bird—one that is unable to fly well and seems lost or abandoned. Your first impulse may be to help the young bird, but in the great majority of cases the young bird doesn’t need help. In fact, intervening often makes the situation worse. Here’s how to determine whether to take action:
The first thing to do is to figure out if the baby bird is a nestling or a fledgling.
Most of the baby birds people find are fledglings. These are young birds that have just left the nest, are still under the care of their parents, and do not need our help. Fledglings are feathered and capable of hopping or flitting, with toes that can tightly grip your finger or a twig. These youngsters are generally adorable and fluffy, with a tiny stub of a tail.
When fledglings leave their nest they rarely return, so even if you see the nest it’s not a good idea to put the bird back in—it will hop right back out. Usually there is no reason to intervene at all beyond putting the bird on a nearby perch out of harm’s way and keeping pets indoors. The parents may be attending to four or five young scattered in different directions, but they will return to care for the one you have found. You can watch from a distance to make sure the parents are returning to care for the fledgling.
If the baby bird is sparsely feathered and not capable of hopping, walking, flitting, or gripping tightly to your finger, it’s a nestling. If so, the nest is almost certainly nearby. If you can find the nest (it may be well hidden), put the bird back as quickly as possible. Don’t worry—parent birds do not recognize their young by smell. They will not abandon a baby if it has been touched by humans.
If you have found both parents dead, the young bird is injured, you can’t find the nest, or are absolutely certain that the bird was orphaned, then your best course of action is to bring it to a wildlife rehabilitator. A sick, injured or orphaned baby bird may need emergency care until you can get it to a wildlife rehabilitator.
Bottom line: remember that the vast majority of “abandoned” baby birds are perfectly healthy fledglings whose parents are nearby and watching out for them.
Reasons NOT to Feed Bread to Wild Geese
Rob Lowry, Birding Nevada
Today at Jake's Wetland in Minden, NV, an example of why it is not good to feed ducks/geese unnatural foods such as bread, chips, etc. These 2 geese were the only ones at the pond and they both ran up to me immediately upon arrival expecting to be fed, as apparently they usually are. This symptom is called "angel wing" and the goose will not be able to recover or fly again, which makes it more vulnerable to predation.
Here are some options to feed geese/ducks at your local park:
Rob Lowry, Birding Nevada
Today at Jake's Wetland in Minden, NV, an example of why it is not good to feed ducks/geese unnatural foods such as bread, chips, etc. These 2 geese were the only ones at the pond and they both ran up to me immediately upon arrival expecting to be fed, as apparently they usually are. This symptom is called "angel wing" and the goose will not be able to recover or fly again, which makes it more vulnerable to predation.
Here are some options to feed geese/ducks at your local park:
- Corn (canned, frozen or fresh). I buy a 50 pound bag of cracked corn at Tractor Supply for about $10.
- Duck pellets (sold online and at pet stores)
- Lettuce, other greens (torn into small pieces)
- Frozen peas (defrosted)
- Oats (rolled or instant)
- Seeds (including birdseed or other varieties)
