Saturday, August 15, 2009

Harrison Apartment Cattle Egrets

You'll recall earlier posts about the cattle egret rookery at Harrison Apartments. The babies are beginning to fall from the nests and showing up at Wild Bird Rescue. A large number die from impact with the concrete under the trees or the heat before they are brought in. Some have had to be euthanized because of severe injuries. A few have died from dehydration/emaciation soon after arrival. But others are recovering and will likely be able to be released in a few weeks. All of them seem to be well underweight--the parent birds are having to travel quite a ways into town to bring food. I hope they remember the trek next year and find a more suitable nesting location.

Egrets are pretty aggressive birds; fortunately for my fingers, most are beginning to self feed. Once we can release the birds in one of the outdoor aviaries, these guys can go outside and practice catching bugs.

Good birding!

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