Avian rescue center in Central Oregon, specializing in native birds needing unique care such as song, shore, and water birds. Most of the birds at our rescue are high desert species, that come to Central Oregon to breed or are year-round locals. However, we get quite a few birds that are simply migrating through on their way to either northern breeding habitats or wintering grounds. Wildlife rescue in Central Oregon is diverse, with a variety of individual federal and state licensed individuals participating in wild bird and mammal rescue and rehabilitation.
Services We Offer
Central Oregon Wildlife Rescue
There are many reasons why wild birds and other wildlife need rescue and rehabilitation: weakness during migration, human interference, cat or dog attacks, hitting our windows or buildings, getting hit by a car, power lines, pesticide spraying (roadside or homes and businesses), loss of food and nesting sites, and illness are just a few. Wild birds have difficult lives. While we hear them out in the spring 'singing' and fluttering about, their actual lives are not so charming. Our native birds face increasing challenges as our urban areas expand and their natural habitats decrease. In Central Oregon, homes with large, expansive windows are built further and further into wild areas that have been nesting and feeding sites. More roads are built, bringing cars and other vehicles into wild areas. Trails are built taking people on bikes, horses, and foot into historically wild areas free from human interference. Large swaths of land are developed for more and more housing developments, and the overall population of Central Oregon continues to expand. While none of us seeks to harm wild animals, the reality is - we do. Humans are the largest impact to our native birds and wildlife.
Wildlife rescue, while helpful, is not the end solution for all of these issues. Instead, we can learn to live with the wildlife whose yards and territories we have built our homes within. We can put up 'catteries' - outdoor play enclosures for cats, catch and bring inside feral and outside cats, protect birds from our windows (see 'Windows' above), prevent damage from woodpeckers and learn to enjoy them (see 'Living With' above), make sure there is healthy and safe habitats for our songbirds, keep our feeders in a safe location and clean of disease, trim and care for our outside plants at appropriate times of year, find non-toxic solutions to tree and plant issues, use natural fertilizers in our yards, and plant native plants. There is a host of things we can do to contribute to the well-being of birds and wildlife.
Birds need our yards for nesting. We may not see most of these nests, birds excel at hiding. But, eventually the babies must leave the nest to learn to care for themselves (you parents out there get this part!). Several of our local native birds must learn to find food on the ground - they are ground-feeders. These include all of the doves, juncos, and the infamous robin who cheers us up during the spring with its lovely call. In fact, most birds use the ground at least some.
In the summer, we can be watchful of what is happening in our yards. Who is nesting where and in what tree or shrub? Who are our wild, flighted neighbors anyway? What do they eat and where? And when we see they are nesting, we can bring our pets in when a nest of fledglings is about to jump out onto the ground. We can make sure we are not spraying our potential nesting trees with pesticides or other products too. We can make sure there are lots of hiding places in our yards for our birds by planting shrubs, or better yet, by planting our native shrubs (sage, bitter and rabbit brush). Most birds eat bugs, so having healthy native plants and shrubs in our yards helps our birds with food. In the end, baby birds can fall out of nests, be ill enough for a parent to abandon, or perhaps be born too late in the season and be abandoned by a parent needing to migrate. We are happy to help you determine what is best for a baby or fledgling you find and are worried about. Please look at the 'I found a baby bird' page.
Habitat or Bird Consultation
Stay tuned to the blog as Elise covers all sorts of habitat improvement tips for caring for the wild birds that visit your yard, whether that is a tiny plot or a large acreage. Wildlife rescue is more than finding an animal and taking it to a wildlife rehabilitator, it is also about improving their outdoor living spaces so that they are safe from our pets, poisons, and other human-caused dangers. The tags above provide links to pages that will help you find solutions to birds hitting your windows, preventing damage from woodpeckers, and what to do if you find a baby bird. The blog has stories of a wide range of the wild birds we have rescued, with pictures and details about what happened and their treatment. We also offer consultation for property owners looking for ideas on how to exclude certain birds (or other animals) from their properties (like woodpeckers and geese).
Contact us at: 541-728-8208 or email us at lovenativebirds@gmail.com Help us get the word out by 'Liking' our facebook page, at Native Bird Care of Sisters, Oregon And check out the Blog for interesting stories, tips and solutions, and pictures of our beautiful patients.
