I have been volunteering with Wild Nest Bird Rehabilitation and have already learned so much in my short time with them! On a normal day volunteering we round on the birds in both the juvenile room and adult room as well as any birds that may be in the outdoor aviary. We check to make sure each bird is well and has adequate amounts of food and water. Some of my favorite birds to see up close and personal, so far, have been the hummingbird and the American crow. It has been very eye-opening to see how many birds are brought in because of injuries sustained from cats, window collisions, and car collisions, to name a few. Window collisions are the third leading cause of death for songbirds and learning this information prompted our interest in doing a project about this topic.
In addition to volunteering with Wild Nest, I have also been able to speak and learn more about the issue of window collisions from Adam Betuel, who is the director of Conservation with Birds Georgia. He told me how window collisions cause 365 million to 1 billion bird deaths each year. He also went through different factors of glass that can make them more likely to confuse birds. As more and more buildings are being built with large amounts of glass this issue is becoming ever more pressing, but more details on this will be shared in Diane and I’s project :).
I was also able to attend the event at Legacy Park called “Humans and/as Animals”. The event was very interesting! We walked around the lake where Wild Nest is located and heard from several professors from Emory University, Georgia State University, and Morehouse College as well. The panel discussion was about how we can all be more in tune with animals and essentially be grounded and reminded of the fact that we too are animals. Carolyn, Professor Finck, and I also shared our stories of volunteering with Wild Nest at the end of the event. I have attached pictures that Professor Finck took from our walk around the lake. I would include pictures of the birds as well, but we are not allowed to do this.
So far, I have been able to hold a few birds such as the American crow and several mourning doves. I really enjoy being in the exam room with the new intakes and seeing how different, yet similar treatment of birds is to human treatment. I have also been able to help prepare a lot of the foods and formulas that are needed for the different types of songbirds that Wild Nest helps. I even witnessed several birds being tube-fed!
Hi Grace!
It sounds like you’re having a lovely experience at Wild Nest! It’s sad that so many birds lose their lives from window collisions. I wonder if the type of glass matters because some are more reflective than others. I went to the event at Legacy Park too but couldn’t find anyone. All I saw was a sign that said “Event” leading to a construction zone that had a creepy alley, but it sounds like you folks had a great time.
Hey, Grace. From your update, it seems that you have been having an invaluable time volunteering with Wild Nest, and I think that is the ideal outcome for our time with our community partners. What I liked most about your post was the event at Legacy Park that you mentioned. I think the understanding that humans are also animals has been lost by the majority of people. Understanding that humans are animals, and consequently have the same innate needs as other animals would give understanding to the more complex emotions that humans feel. And just as understanding our emotions and actions would be important, I believe that if more people recognize that we are still animals behind our ability to think and reason, they would have more compassion for other animals and the environment as a whole. Currently, the majority of us disassociate ourselves from other living organisms cause we see ourselves as the only ones that matter or deserve protection. An example of this disassociation is the fact that the buildings and cars we utilize as a core function of our daily lives negatively impact the grander environment, as seen with the hundreds of millions of birds that die each year as a result of these objects. By changing our perspective on how we view ourselves, we could then change interact with the other organisms we share the world with. I’m excited to hear more about the glass issue in your presentation.