Spokane Audubon Society looking to establish local wildlife rehabilitation facility!

Excerpt from The Pygmy Owl, Newsletter of the Spokane Audubon Society – November 2024

By Margo Wolf, Spokane Audubon Save-A-Bird Team Co-chair

If you follow Spokane Audubon Society’s (SAS) doings, you know of their Save-A-Bird team of volunteers assisting in bird rehabilitation. It’s been over two years since they became a resource in the community for help with bird injury, illness, nestlings-out-of-nests, and other challenges.

Since the Spring of 2022, they’ve responded to over 700 calls for help and transported almost 200 birds to wildlife rehabilitators for care or to veterinarians for assessments.

In action, this looks like:

• providing education about birds and nesting stages through fledgling
• secondary nest building and re-nesting placement
• consideration of intervention with injured/ ill, especially due to human impact
• capture and transport to a licensed rehabbed

The public has been reaching out to Spokane Audubon Society with concerns about birds in their neighborhoods and along their commute. Through these experiences, they have learned that:

• The public supports bird rescue and rehabilitation
• SAS Inland Northwest wildlife rehabilitators (Dr. Mark Schrag at Hunter Vet Clinic, Dr Jocelyn Wood at Mt Spokane Vet Clinic, WSU’s wildlife ward of the veterinary hospital, and Birds of Prey Northwest in St. Maries, Idaho) are doing incredible work
• This rescue and rehab work is built on an unyielding passion and requires specialized knowledge and skills of licensed veterinarians, state and federal permitted rehabilitators, sub-permittees and many dedicated volunteers

The broader benefits to this work include increased awareness and appreciation for our winged wildlife and increased environmental connection, knowledge, and awareness. A recent article published in “Wildlife Biology” indicates that rehab may help to mitigate human-caused mortality.

But the committed Save-A-Bird team of volunteers and SAS rehab collaborators have learned that they could really use a local wildlife rehabilitation facility to continue this work in the years to come.

To that end, Spokane Audubon Society is seeking individuals who might pursue the necessary requirements for a bird rehabilitation permit. That requires mentorship, education, and training with established full-time wildlife rehabilitators, such as the Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) in western Washington. You can find more information on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife wildlife rehabilitation webpage.

Margo Wolf is a local contact with some experience with the process, and she would be glad to talk with anyone about this possibility. Click here to email Margo.

Inland Northwest Land Conservancy is proud to have partnered with Spokane Audubon Society on past projects, including Reardon’s Audobon Lake. SAS also recently contributed $10,000 to the Glen Tana Conservation project. Click here to learn more about INLC and SAS collaborations.

By Lorenzo Menendez