How do over 500 injured or orphaned wild birds find their way to Bird Treatment and Learning Center’s (Bird TLC) rehabilitation clinic every year? Because of people—just like you—who cared enough to help.

Every day, people who have found injured or orphaned birds call us. They want to help, but they aren't sure what to do.

Our phone often rings just before closing, when people come home from work and find a stunned bird sitting under a window. That is what happened to Mikal, who found an injured bird on his porch. Wanting to help, Mikal searched the internet and found Bird TLC. He reached us just before 5:00 PM, and our staff assured him we would stay to accept the bird.

Sadly, the bird did not survive its injuries, but Mikal shared: “We were grateful there is a place to take injured birds. Even though we were sad the downy woodpecker we rescued didn't make it, we felt better about it being in a caring, healing environment in its final days.”

Mikal’s compassion didn’t end there—he has since taken steps to prevent other birds from colliding with his windows with bird-friendly window treatments.

During the summer, we regularly receive calls about orphaned birds, especially waterbirds. Ducklings often become orphaned when their mother leads them from the nest to water; if that first journey takes them across a busy road, the mother may be struck by a vehicle. Other times, something frightens the mother and she flies off, leaving her young behind.

That is what Donald witnessed when a mother duck and her four ducklings wandered into a yard filled with people and pets. Frightened, the mother flew off. Like Mikal, Donald wanted to help, so he searched online and found Bird TLC. By this time, the ducklings had wandered out of the yard and were dangerously close to a road. Donald shielded them from traffic until Bird TLC staff members, Maggie and Charly, arrived. Together, the three of them safely rounded up the ducklings. We cared for the brood for several weeks until they were old enough to return to the wild. Donald was grateful that Bird TLC was there to “help save birds that would otherwise be lost.”

Heather is another hero who turned to Bird TLC after finding a gull that had been hit by a car. She originally thought the gull was dead, but wanted to move it off the road to keep scavengers from getting hit as well. To her surprise, the gull opened her eyes and tried to bite her! Heather knew exactly who to call. Despite it being late in the evening, our staff met Heather at the clinic and took the gull into our care.

Heather says that people who help birds are her heroes. And we agree—the people who step up to save injured and orphaned birds are our heroes, too!

If you find an injured or orphaned wild bird, call Bird TLC at 907-562-4852.