WOODS & WATERS
Taking Care of our
FEATHERED FRIENDS
Avian Haven volunteer Susan Stone and Marc Payne, co-founder of Avian Haven, release a female bald eagle at the boat launch on Phillips Lake in Dedham in 2015. The eagle was hit by a car while feeding on a raccoon on Route 1A.
IT’S NOT EASY BEING A BIRD. Oh, sure, it’s nice to dress up in pretty colors and fly around a lot, but those same qualities can get a bird in trouble. Predators agree that wild birds taste a little like chicken, and they’re attracted to all that colorful flashiness. Birds are masters at avoiding visible obstacles in flight, but they crash into invisible windows with alarming frequency. Whenever a bird is found injured in Maine, chances are it will end up at Avian Haven Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center in Freedom. BY BOB DUCHESNE Avian Haven takes in well over 3,000 sick and injured birds every year. Somehow, the team has managed to expand its facilities and capabilities over the last 23 years with very little fanfare. A network of 250 volunteers from Portland to Presque Isle stand by to transport birds to the facility, and back out again to release points. The challenges can be daunting. AVIAN HAVEN Consider the challenge to birds. Domestic cats kill billions, leading the list of human-related causes of bird mortality. Window-strikes are number TAKES IN WELL OVER two. Collision with automobiles ranks third. Lead poisoning takes a significant toll, as eagles scavenge the remains of game animals and 3,000 SICK AND INJURED BIRDS loons ingest lead sinkers on lake bottoms. Some human-related causes can be mitigated, starting with EVERY YEAR. A NETWORK OF keeping kitties indoors. There are window treatments that discourage bird strikes. However, other problems are harder to address, and the 250 VOLUNTEERS ... STAND BY birds don’t make it easy. In winter, roadways make perfect hunting corridors for hawks and owls. A lot of Avian Haven’s winter guests TO TRANSPORT BIRDS TO THE are unfortunate raptors that bounced off a windshield. The elimination of toxic lead from the environment has been FACILITY, AND BACK OUT AGAIN sluggish. Society has managed to get the lead out of pipes, gasoline,
TO RELEASE POINTS.
PHOTO: BDN FILE
WHEN A BIRD GETS HURT, THIS MAINE REHABILITATOR IS READY
