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.

WHEN A BIRD GETS HURT, THIS MAINE REHABILITATOR IS READY

BY BOB DUCHESNE

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. 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 TAKES IN WELL OVER list of human-related causes of bird mortality. Window-strikes are number two. Collision with automobiles ranks third. Lead poisoning takes a 3,000 SICK AND INJURED BIRDS significant toll, as eagles scavenge the remains of game animals and loons ingest lead sinkers on lake bottoms.

EVERY YEAR. A NETWORK OF Some human-related causes can be mitigated, starting with keeping kitties indoors. There are window treatments that discourage 250 VOLUNTEERS ... STAND BY bird strikes. However, other problems are harder to address, and the birds don’t make it easy. In winter, roadways make perfect hunting

TO TRANSPORT BIRDS TO THE corridors for hawks and owls. A lot of Avian Haven’s winter guests are unfortunate raptors that bounced off a windshield. FACILITY, AND BACK OUT AGAIN The elimination of toxic lead from the environment has been sluggish. Society has managed to get the lead out of pipes, gasoline, TO RELEASE POINTS.

paint, wheel weights, children’s toys, cosmetics, and some fishing gear and bird shot, but the drift away from lead ammo has been slow.

When a poisoned loon or eagle ends up at Avian Haven, it’s often too late to be saved.

Consider the challenge to rehabilitators. Birds and injuries come in all shapes and sizes, requiring different care for each. Every bird is adapted to specific diets, so what do you feed orphaned babies when there are so many different species? Recovering birds need to get their strength back, before being released.

Loons gotta swim. Owls gotta fly. Each needs a different type of building.

Summer is crazy. Incoming migrants swell the bird population, increasing the number of potential rescues. If a cat takes a parent, an entire nest of babies may end up at Avian Haven. The youngsters need to be fed each and every hour.

Housing the birds can be a challenge. Obviously, recuperating birds can’t be penned with other birds that would eat them. Sometimes they can’t even be penned with their own kind. When two barred owls share a space, the bigger, healthier bird may simply steal all the food. Avian Haven’s pens are double-screened, with soft screens on the inside so that a recovering bird doesn’t re-injure itself, and hard screens on the outside so that no predator can break in for an easy meal.

Consider the financial challenge. Wildlife rehabilitation centers receive no government funding. Private donations and foundation grants provide the sole support for Avian Haven’s staff of rehabilitators, not to mention the 14 buildings that include flight cages, indoor pools, raptor enclosures, and treatment facilities. The entire mission relies on the generosity of donors and an incredible number of volunteer hours, including the unpaid support of renowned veterinarians.

Contributions are welcome, indeed encouraged. Avian Haven’s website makes it easy. Donations are especially timely as the facility breaks ground on a new waterfowl rehabilitation building that was delayed two years by the pandemic.

And all this is happening on a small back road in a small Central Maine town. Some of the most fascinating stories in Maine happen out-of-sight, and Avian Haven will remain mostly invisible. It is not a zoo. There are no exhibits. The public can bring in birds, but can’t tour cages. In a way, that’s too bad. There’s something eerie about staring into an owl cage and realizing an owl is staring back.

In the long run, Avian Haven’s heroic efforts will make no difference to bird populations. It’s not about that. It’s about our own humanity. Vehicles, windows, lead and predatory pets will continue to kill off wild birds at alarming rates. We can’t save them all. But if we don’t even care enough to save one, what does that say about us?

BOB DUCHESNE is a local radio personality, Maine guide, and columnist. He lives on Pushaw Lake with his wife, Sandi.