"That's where most people get it wrong," Gural said. Ask any bird expert, and they'll tell you the same. They look helpless, but they're essentially in school. Fledglings, which are feathered but cannot yet fly, often hop around under the watchful, if distant, eyes of their parents, as they learn the ways of the wild. Patiently, Rosenheim explained that this was likely a fledgling and was in no danger. I think it might've bumped into a building." "Hi, I'm at the World Trade Center and I think I've found an injured bird," I said. "Hello, New York City Audubon," said Kellye Magee Rosenheim, answering my call. When I found that bird in New York, I didn't know about Wild Bird Fund, so I figured I'd start with a household name. If in New Jersey, I could've called The Raptor Trust, in the Millington section of Long Hill Township in Morris County, or the aforementioned Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge. But never did I expect to find such an unusual bird in an urban setting. My friends and I have had all those encounters (the dove and the finch were mine). More: WATCH: Look out for NJ's native turtles like Tommy A wayward gosling who decides to follow you as you jog through a park. A blue jay with an injured wing on the side of a road. A red finch, heart thumping, apparently attacked by a cat. A back yard nest turned topsy-turvy, leaving a young mourning dove for you to find. Maybe you, too, have found a bird to bring to such a place. Volunteers, Gural said, "are just a different breed of people." Jeanne Gural, executive director of Woodford Cedar Run Refuge in Medford, Burlington County, relies upon about 75 active volunteers for daily help, including near-constant feedings of baby birds. To have them in comfort, and not in fear, makes a difference." Where the wild things are "Sometimes they're smashed, or so sick that they won't make it. "I know that when people do this, that's giving up a day or half a day of their time to the rescue."Īs an "accidental rescuer," I can say that people who love birds are even more grateful for the volunteers and the non-profit organizations such as WBF that take in these birds. "We are thankful that people do this," said Rita McMahon, director of Wild Bird Fund, New York City's only wildlife rehab center, which cares for sick or injured wild birds and small wild mammals. Nature has a way of making its needs known, even on a street clogged with tourists and New Yorkers on lunch break. "I'm glad you are, because I can't stay," she said, patting my shoulder and melting into the crowd. I sighed and pulled out my phone, Googling "bird rehab." Visions of a free afternoon in the city fluttered away.
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