Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research

MONTHLY FLYER
A Volunteer Newsletter

July 2019

Celebrating 43 years of excellence in

wildlife rehabilitation and research

Photo: Hank Davis Compiled by Tri-State staff and volunteers

BABY BIRDS, BABY YOU!

Just as most people enjoy an adorable photo of a baby bird, most
people like to see human baby photos, too. To make it more exciting,
we created a baby photo identification contest to see who could
correctly guess volunteer and staff baby photos. To add incentive, the
volunteer with the most correct answers would receive a t-shirt and
the staff member with the most would earn bragging rights. Those
willing submitted a photo of themselves from newborn to no older than
age 5. We received a total of 18 submissions and posted them in the
Volunteer Break Room along with entry forms for people to record
their guesses. Matching baby photos to the adults they are now proved
to be more challenging than most realized, but we received quite a few
entries. Plus, it became a great conversation starter and topic of
discussion amongst volunteers and staff alike!

The winners with the most correct guesses were Naveen (right) for the
volunteers and Andrea for the staff! Congratulations to you both and
thank you to everyone who participated!

AND SPEAKING OF BABY BIRDS…

What a summer so far! June
was a month of an
abundance of baby birds
being brought through our
clinic doors, whether by
presenters or volunteer
transporters. Who was there
for them? YOU! From
transportation, to front desk
admission and answering
hundreds of phone calls,
expert bird care, habitat
building, cleaning, outreach,
laundering, administrative
needs, maintenance projects
both inside and outside, to releases and renesting, you have taken on every task during this busiest time of the
Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research 2

year with skill, calmness, and passion. Thank you! As you can see on the graph above, on June 1st, we admitted
43 patients! Things have slowed down a bit since then, but not by much. As of today, we have about 120
patients in-house. This includes familiar species such as American Robins (our greatest number of patients) to
rare-to-Tri-State species like the Boat-tailed Grackle currently in care. Without your extraordinary dedication, we
would not be able to administer the high quality of care to every single patient we receive. Thank you for your
sweat and your unmatched service! Here are just a few volunteers caught in the act:

Tim
Dawn

Don

Rand

Mary Ann

Valnea

Lisa

Norma
Monthly Flyer, July 2019 3

Martin Tom

Jan

Sara
Cindy

Ian

Mary

“Everybody can be great. Because anybody can

serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to
serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your
verb agree to serve…. You don’t have to know the
second theory of thermodynamics in physics to
serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul
generated by love.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research 4

CAGEBUILDING --- VOLUNTEERS AT THE CORE

It is very important for Tri-State to maintain
response readiness in the Wildlife Response
Annex; one aspect of readiness is being able to
quickly set up the space for incoming patients.
Recently, the oil team was fortunate enough to
receive funding by a generous donor to build six
modular cage units for the Annex. Building these
cages is not a simple task, and in order to get
the cages completed in a timely manner, staff
called upon the CORE Team, Tri-State’s group of
highly skilled oiled wildlife response volunteers.

Working together and learning from each other,

volunteers drilled together PVC, creating the
framework for each cage panel. Marine-grade
vinyl and shade cloth were then carefully added to each, creating the sides, ceiling, and door panels. Now
completed, these panels will be stored until needed for a response and can be easily snapped together to create
a cage in just a few minutes.

A completed cage stands ready for

patients in the drying room of the Annex.

To celebrate, a potluck style BBQ capped off the day of hard work. Not only did the 10 wonderful volunteers help
ensure the cages would be finished, they also “built” up their skills and maintained Tri-State’s response readiness.
Monthly Flyer, July 2019 5

YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON TRAVELS HOME

For 31 days, this Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was in rehabilitation at our clinic. One of our volunteers transported
the bird to Tri-State after a concerned citizen found it injured in New Jersey by the shore. The adult bird’s
radiographs revealed it had a clavicle and a keel fracture, wounds on its hocks, and some deep bruising. With
expert medical attention and care by volunteers, the heron slowly recovered. It demonstrated a hearty appetite
and its strength and health improved with each passing day. After demonstrating short flight, it was moved to an
outside cage with more room to exercise and recuperate. Thanks to many healing and helping hands, the elegant
heron was deemed ready to be released. It was transported by Tom, one of our long-term volunteers, back to its
home territory to continue its life in the wild. Herons by nature can be highly stressed in captivity, and with
multiple injuries, as in this case, it can be a daunting task to rehabilitate them back to good health. It was a joy
for everyone involved in its care when it was released! What a great team effort! Thank you!
Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research 6

WHEN RENEST IS BEST―A COOPER’S HAWK IS REUNITED WITH ITS FAMILY

This approximately 10–12-day-old Cooper’s Hawk nestling was found on the ground in Maryland and brought to
us by a Good Samaritan. After a thorough evaluation, the youngster was deemed healthy and ready to return to
the wild. That’s where Tri-State’s renest team came in. These volunteers go above and beyond in researching
and returning young wild birds to their original home or a new home where they will receive the best of care by
adults of their own species. This takes a lot of coordination, communication, and commitment. Our team went to
work and located the original nest, checked its condition for stability, confirmed a parent was in the area, and
carefully placed the nestling back with its siblings in the nest where it belongs. They then made arrangements to
have someone monitor the nest to be assured the return is successful. So far this year, we have renested and
fostered 145 wild birds! Thank you renest team!

…AND TO SWEETEN YOUR DAY EVEN MORE, CLICK ON THIS MALLARD DUCKLING RELEASE
VIDEO!
Monthly Flyer, July 2019 7

CALLING ALL HELPING HANDS, IT’S YARD SALE TIME!

Tri-State’s Yard Sale is fast approaching and we need your help! The Yard Sale is an annual fundraiser and this
year it is scheduled for the Saturday, October 5th. While the Yard Sale itself is still a few months away, donation
collections start now. The trailer is here and our volunteers will be collecting items on Sundays, Tuesdays, and
Fridays from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. However, we need more helping hands to staff the days and times
for collecting donations. Those who are interested in helping will be “shown the ropes” by our experienced
volunteers. Tasks include receiving donated items, pricing, organizing, and stacking.

Our Yard Sale is a completely volunteer-run

fundraiser and needs support to ensure its success.
While the revenue it generates has really grown
over the past 10 years, it has steadily brought in
close to $10,000 the last few years, all thanks to
the time and support of our volunteers! If you are
interested in helping with the Yard Sale and
donation collections, please email
volunteer@tristatebird.org.

From left to right: Elizabeth, Pat, and Tom sort, clean, and
price items in the yard sale trailer in 2018. Staff Photo

Donations will be accepted through Sunday, September 29th

Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research 8

Remember when you started as a volunteer at

Volunteer Services
Number of Hours
Served
Number of Volunteers
Highest Number of
Hours Served
(Monthly/Individual)
Tri-State? We bet many volunteers would like to
read about your memories and experiences when
you began volunteering here (we know we
June 2019 would!). If you’d like to share a story with other
volunteers who receive the monthly flyer, please
contact Anita, Marketing Associate, at
2,811 amoos@tristatebird.org, or call her at
302-737-9543 extension 117. You can also see
113 Melody, Volunteer Services Manager, in her
office or at mwhitaker@tristatebird.org.
Don’t be shy…we’d love to hear from you!
178

JULY VOLUNTEER ANNIVERSARIES—THANK YOU FOR BEING A MEMBER OF

TRI-STATE’S FLOCK.
WE CAN’T DO IT WITHOUT YOU!

34 years: Ellie Hileman, Gary Patterson 26 years: Mary Birney 25 years: Elaine Smith 17 years: Sara
Hutchinson 16 years: Catherine Feher-Renzetti 14 years: Gloria Worrell 8 years: Bill & Natalie Allen and
Denise Dee 4 years: Ray Bryant, Corky Connor

*Please Note: if your anniversary date is wrong or missing, please help us correct it
by emailing corrections to mwhitaker@tristatebird.org, thank you!

It takes two for safety! Our volunteers

often need to work together as a team
to ensure best practices are in place and
everyone stays safe. Here our volunteer
Marsha holds a Pileated Woodpecker
while our BCA volunteer Erica
administers medication. The handler
needs to not only keep the bird’s safety
in mind, but also the other volunteer or
clinic team member. Teamwork for the
win!
Monthly Flyer, July 2019 9

PLEASE KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR BABY BIRDS OF ALL SPECIES!

Tri-State aims to foster healthy baby birds that we receive into wild
families whenever possible. It’s better for babies to be raised by parents
of their own species than by humans! Please let us know if you spot any
wild baby birds, whether that be a nest of songbirds, a fledgling songbird,
baby raptors, or baby waterfowl.

For baby raptors, contact Aimee Federer at afederer@tristatebird.org

For baby songbirds and waterfowl, contact Jessica Hicken at

jhicken@tristatebird.org

Northern Flicker photo courtesy of volunteer Marian Quinn

WATCH OUT FOR WILDLIFE!

Just a friendly reminder to watch out for wildlife when arriving or leaving from a shift in the clinic. Being nestled
in Middle Run Valley natural area, we want to be aware and respectful of our ‘wild’ neighbors. Please be
cautious and courteous to wildlife crossing, here and everywhere you travel. Thank you!

A beautiful box turtle near

the upper parking lot.

AND FINALLY…