This Week at Liberty 01/17/2011

The intake total for the year is now at 33.

Still a bit slow on the arrival rate, but things are slowly building. We got in several accipiters this week along with a couple of birds from the Kingman area again. The weather was a little better (temperature-wise) and several outside educational programs went forward in beautiful springtime conditions...

A local inca dove gets injured at the facility.

Last week one of the Medical Services volunteers went outside to do some work and found a little inca dove that had gotten himself trapped between some of the structure of the enclosure. The injury wasn't serious, but a rescue was effected and the little bird was brought in to the ICU for some treatment before being released back to the "wild" of the Liberty compound.

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Kristine works on a sharp-shinned hawk as Carol holds.

A preliminary wing wrap is accomplished.

Our Volunteer Coordinator Carol Suits was on hand to help out in the ICU last week when another sharp-shinned hawk was brought in. The intake of these and other accipiters sometimes comes in groups, usually due to migration times. This little bird suffered a collision injury as is often the cxase with birds who chase other birds.

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The "black merlin" is still in the ICU area.

The right wing has an unusual "angle of incidence."

The pretty little bird has been judged to be "non-releasable."

The little black merlin that arrived a few weeks ago was taken for X-rays last week (see TW@L 1/10/2011) and unfortunately, the images indicated that the break has caused a twist in his right wing. For all you pilots out there, this "washout" on only one side means that his ability to fly has been compromised and he is now officially "non-releasable." After the injury heals well enough, he will be evaluated for possible entry into the education collection where he would certainly be an important addition to the team.

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Toba and Sharon evaluate another sharpie.

Toba shows Jan where the damage is located.

A tail in good condition!

A handsome bird - unless you're a sparrow!

A red wrap on a splinted wing.

Two more sharpies were in for treatment this week. After colliding with more immoveable objects, two birds are now in the ICU with broken wings wrapped and splinted by the Med Services team. Being notoriously high strung, seeing an undamaged tail on one was worthy of a photo as these little guys are apt to trash their tail feathers while in captivity.

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Jessica and Peggy show Elliot and Lance to some people on the west side.

Doug explains about Ivan.

Gayle does some educating with Acoma.

Peggy takes a turn with Phoenix.

A group of us traveled more than 50 miles out to the Estrella Park area last Saturday to do an educational show at a new development in the area. We feel it's important to let the public know who's backyard they're living in and what their natural neighbors look like so a peaceful co-existance can be maintained. The weather was perfect and all the volunteers and birds seemed to have a great day in the sun.

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GHO muffle feather with an interesting pattern.

As an injured great horned owl was being examined last week, someone pointed out an interesting color pattern on one of his primary feathers. This, along with the owl-specific leading edge structure (the curvy comb-like arrangement) made this a picture I thought worth posting.

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If you're not on the Education Team but you still would like to see some of our Ed Birds at a program, you can now check out a calendar of public events. Just go to the Liberty website www.libertywildlife.org and on the Events page, click on the tab that says "to see a calendar of event open to the public."