Today, we delivered three blue jays, a woodpecker, a raven, and a juvenile bald eagle from Wildwoods Rehabilitation to the Twin Cities.
The bald eagle went to the Raptor Center. He was found in a place where various people had been feeding him human food to the point where he stopped begging his mom for food and started begging from people instead. Now he’s focused on humans for food, and horribly skinny from eating not enough of the wrong sort of food. The Raptor Center says he may no longer be releasable. It’s important not to feed wildlife; wild animals need to learn to hunt and forage on their own. We’d like to thank the members of the community who worked with Wildwoods and the DNR to help this young eagle.
The other birds went to the Wildlife Rehab Center, where they will be treated for a variety of ailments. The blue jays’s mother was killed by a cat and the birds were kept for a few days before they were able to get professional help. Unfortunately, the diet they were on was deficient in the calcium necessary for their growing bones. Wildwoods and now the WRC are doing their best to correct for this. Many wild birds raised by untrained people develop metabolic bone disease, which is like rickets in people. We’re grateful for the man who saved the birds and glad he brought them in.
The woodpecker may have an injured foot and the raven a fractured wrist. Hopefully they will all have a chance to return to the wild.
Staff at Wildwoods are licensed by state and federal agencies to work with wildlife. If you see wildlife in need please contact staff.
