Wild Bird Fund

The Wild Bird Fund was founded by Rita McMahon in 2001 after she found an injured Canada goose on the side of Interstate 684. She tried to find a veterinarian to treat the bird, but none would accept wildlife. Eventually, she told a veterinary hospital that it was her pet, but by that time it was too late and the goose did not survive. Upset that there was nowhere in the city to take care of wild birds, she sought out training and began operating out of her Upper West Side apartment, housing up to 60 birds at a time. The Wild Bird Fund was incorporated as a nonprofit in 2005, marking the city's first licensed wildlife hospital. It operated in McMahon's New York apartment for several years, and in a space inside a veterinary hospital, Animal General, on Columbus Avenue in Manhattan's Upper West Side. The rescue center opened its own dedicated facility across the street from Animal General on Columbus Avenue in the spring of 2012, though it still relies on neighborhood veterinarians for some specialized equipment or doctors. It is the city's only wild animal clinic, and may treat more than 400 birds at a time, with up to 50 coming in each day and 7,000 yearly patients as of 2020. File:Vet tech Eugene Oda and a red-tailed hawk credit mike fernandez wbf.jpg|A veterinary technician examines a red-tailed hawk at the Wild Bird Fund File:Nestling pigeon phyllis tseng wbf.jpg|A nestling feral pigeon at the Wild Bird Fund, one of the most frequent patients. == Operation ==

being treated for a parasitic infection and injuries resulting from a window collision Most of the Wild Bird Fund's patients are brought to the facility by members of the public, as well as by organizations like the Animal Care Centers of NYC and the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation. The hospital treats a wide range of bird species, as well as other small wildlife, though its most common patients are pigeons. The leading cause of injury is window collisions. New York City was built along the Atlantic Flyway, a major migration path, and birds are confused by lights behind the windows or reflections of trees or sky, colliding with glass in large numbers, especially during spring and fall migration. The New York City Audubon Society estimates the number of bird deaths by window collision in the city to be between 90,000 and 230,000 each year. Most crashes occur during fall by birds making their first migration. For recovered birds, the site of release is based in part on whether they are migrating, and in which direction. While many pigeons are released in nearby Central Park, birds migrating south might be released in Prospect Park in Brooklyn, which allows a mostly clear path to the south as compared to Central Park and most other sites in Manhattan. The hospital employs an animal care staff of about 25 people, with assistance from 100 or more volunteers. It does not charge for services, relying largely on individual donations, as well as foundation grants and sponsorships. During the COVID-19 pandemic, with a larger number of people birding and spending time in nature, the Wild Bird Fund saw an increase in the number of injured birds taken to the hospital, even while there was no evidence the number of overall injuries increased. == References ==