Not so pretty in pink
This American goldfinch has found herself with bad case of conjunctivitis, or pink eye. A woman brought the bird to VINS last week after observing her on the ground below a feeder, sitting there for hours. When we examined the bird, we found the tissue around her left eye red and puffy with a little…
A Case of Schizochroism
Who is at this feeder? Could someone’s canary have gotten loose?Nope, this lemon-yellow fellow is a good ol’ American goldfinch with a case of leucism, a genetic mutation affecting pigmentation. While it’s similar to albinism, a leucistic bird maintains some normal coloring. As you can see in the photo, this finch’s eyes are not red,…
Birds of a Feather, Stickin’ Together!
Eight cedar waxwing fledglings — all originally from separate nests — made their way into the big wide world last Saturday. The birds each came in for treatment after becoming orphaned, injured, or both. The VINS Wildlife Services staff cared for these songbirds, healed their injuries, raised them, and got them ready for life in…
Country Road, Take Me Home
When a delivery truck pulled up to a store here in Vermont, the recipients of the trucks’ goods got far more than they bargained for when out popped five baby birds. Here’s the scoop. Watch a video of the baby wrens. A mom and dad house wren thought they had found a safe, dry home…
Robin: In It to Win It
Found bleeding in the road, this American robin came to VINS with a golf ball-sized patch of skin missing from her rump — the area just above her tail. We suspect she was struck by a car or dropped by a predator. In any case, this common backyard bird is in for the long haul…
Off To Be a Bird
One more patient has come and gone here at VINS. Yesterday we released a gray catbird that came into our care on June 7th after being hit by a car. See the little bird head back to the wild. This little bird was struck soundly by a vehicle in Sharon, VT and received a pretty…
A Fleeting Farewell
Another success story ended rather quickly for us today at VINS. A male purple finch that came into our care 32 days ago did not hang around for any “aw” moments when we released him on site today, instead he was gone in a flash. See a video of his fleeting farewell. This beautiful male…
Rearin’-to-go Redstart
This little American redstart was found on the sidewalk beside a huge department store. We believe that she flew into one of the enormous plate glass windows, seeing a reflection of the sky in it and believing she could fly right on through. No such luck. Watch a video of this bird’s release! But the…
It’s the little things…
Here in the VINS Wildlife Services department, we see a wide variety of bird species come into our care, but some patients are more unique than others. On April 29th, we received this tiny warbler, also known as a northern parula. These small songbirds are one of the many migratory species that return to Vermont…
Dude, where’s my tail?
This black-capped chickadee is one tail short, due to an unfortunate tussle with a pet Siamese cat. Birds’ tail feathers are designed to easily pull from their bodies, so when a predator tries to grab at the bird’s backside the tail feathers come out while the bird flies away to safety. The chickadee also suffered…
