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Hard Knocks and Happy Endings….A Woodpecker Makes His Way Home
Woodpeckers seem to have a knack for getting themselves into trouble, especially those who live in close proximity to homes and businesses. Many woodpeckers make themselves right at home in our backyards, placing them perilously close to one of the biggest threats to birds – windows. Each year, hundreds of thousands of birds are injured…
Oh, Baby! VINS’ First Baby Bird of the Season.
Spring has arrived in New England, and for VINS this means the arrival of “baby bird season.” Right now, birds are busy finding mates, establishing territories, building nests, and, for the lady-birds, laying eggs. While many birds successfully raise their young to adulthood, there are some whose babies find themselves in need of a helping…
Rock it, little redpoll!
A female common redpoll came into care in early December after being attacked by a cat. She was brought to VINS when a woman found her on the ground, unable to fly. The bird was missing her tail feathers, some wing feathers, and had damage to her left wing. Watch a video of this redpoll’s…
Invasion of the Grosbeaks
Photo by Sara Eisenhauer. Well, Vermont isn’t really undergoing an “invasion” of grosbeaks, but there sure have been a lot of sightings of pine grosbeaks in the Upper Valley of Vermont — a rare sight indeed. Watch a video of a grosbeak in our care! After recently seeing some female pine grosbeaks feeding in a…
Hello, little MODO!
This mourning dove (or “MODO”, as we like to call them around here) endured a savage attack by a cat, causing tissue damage, missing feathers, and loss of blood. Watch a video of this MODO’s care! Luckily, the bird was brought quickly to VINS, where we could clean his wounds and bandage him up. Most…
Volunteers Bid Robins, Catbird Farewell
The baby bird season here at VINS — in which we take in injured and orphaned baby birds and care for them — is coming to a quick close. Most birds in Vermont have finished breeding and some have even hit the road south. VINS baby bird feeders begin releasing a group of robins. Watch…
Down the Hatch
VINS interns Calah Beckwith (left) and Lauren DiBiccari tend to a robin. This young American robin took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up under a car at a local car dealership. We believe the robin struck a window or building, sustaining damage to his central nervous system resulting in a lack of leg use.…
Wild Youth
Two American robins fly out of a box and into the wild. Earlier this week, a whole crew of juvenile songbirds — raised from nestlings to fledglings here at VINS — were released back into the wild. Some of the young birds had been orphaned, while others came in after being attacked by pet cats…
Fly away, robin!
This American robin flew off into the woods of Vermont — healthy and ready to tackle the insects of spring — after receiving medical care at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS). Watch a video of the robin’s release! Above, VINS intern Hannah Goldman prepares to release the robin. The bird came to the…
Freedom
This American goldfinch is the latest patient to receive terrific care at VINS and return back to the wild a healthy bird. Watch a video of this finch’s release! You may remember this bird came in several weeks ago with conjunctivitis (pink eye). Read her backstory here. She’s all healed up now, and took a…
