Mourning Dove nestling

The most common dove in the greater Houston is the Mourning Dove, but the White Wing Dove is quickly becoming a fixture in our backyards. Rare until 5 -7 years ago, they were usually seen only when migrating to or from breeding grounds in Mexico and Central America. These days they are frequent year-round visitors. They look very similar to Mourning Doves, but they are much bigger and at rest, you can see the white band that outlines the leading edge of the wing.  (Note the white feathers are already emerging on the nestling below)

White Wing Dove nestling

Eurasian Collared Doves can be distinguished from Mourning Doves because they have a thin black collar or necklace at the base of the neck.

Eurasian Collared Dove

Inca Doves are the smaller of the species that make Houston home, in the bright sun there are some iridescent feathers, but the “tiled” appearance of the feathers is the most distinguishing characteristic.  

Inca Dove

Doves make sloppy haphazard nests that often fall apart before the babies have fully fledged. Therefore, baby doves are one of the most common species seen at the Wildlife Center. Every effort should be make to encourage the parents to care for the nestling/fledgling. Place the baby in an empty hanging basket, bucket (with holes punched in the bottom) or box (ditto about holes in the bottom). Paper towels can be wadded up to form a faux- nest. Observe at a distance to see if the baby is being cared for.

Dove are one of the more difficult bird species to raise. This is because the parents feed their young by putting their beak deeply into the baby’s mouth and transferring food directly from their crop. This is called “crop milk” and is produced by specialized fluid-filled cells from the lining of the crop. To simulate the method and type of food, rehabilitators’ must mix a slushy formula and place it directly into the baby’s crop with a tube. Rehabilitators that are very experienced with “tubing” find it a fast and easy method of feeding, but it is not an easy technique to master.

The Wildlife Center received its first Cedar Waxwing of the season. The patient is a gorgeous adult who flew into a window and sustained a minor head trauma as well as soft tissue damage to a wing.  Medications were administered and he has been put on cage rest.  

The Cedar Waxwing is a finely tailored bird. Beautiful shades of tan and pale cinnamon melt into a soft yellow belly and dove gray back. The tail darkens from a soft gray to black and is banded along the tips in bright yellow. The wings sport a spot or two of bright red. He appears to be dressed for a winter ball.

These birds are very gregarious during migration and it isn’t uncommon to see a cloud of them descend upon a berry producing bush and strip it bare. They can be found congregating is open areas that offer good meals of berries, insects, sap and flowers.

The prognosis for the patient is good. If you find any of these special visitors laying in your yard, gently pick it up and place in a box, keep warm with a rice sock or heating pad set on low and bring it to the Wildlife Center.

Seabirds along the coasts of Washington and Oregon are mysteriously losing the waterproofing that protects their feathers. Without this waterproofing, the birds quickly develop hypothermia and have to expend much more energy to remain afloat.  Unable to hunt, the birds become dehydrated and starve.

There are many theories concerning the cause, but none has been proven. It seems that a contributing factor may be the foam produced when red tide algae die and decompose.

It is estimated that over one thousand birds have washed up dead and almost five hundred have been collected by concerned citizens. The Coast Guard has airlifted hundreds of birds to a rehabilitation center in California for care.

Could this happen here? Yes, it already has on a much smaller scale. AND there have been reports of red tide in south Texas over the last several weeks. Is WR&E prepared? You bet!

The WR&E Wildlife Center has a team of State and Federally permitted and experienced wildlife rehabilitators that can care for all species of birds and mammals including endangered species during an emergency. We have the capability to set up remote facilities with the option of using the facilities available at the Wildlife Center. Each facility is capable of managing the treatment of 500 large seabirds such as pelican. The facilities can be modified to handle even greater numbers of smaller birds or mammals.

Response equipment is stored in 8 “push pact” containers that can be trucked or airlifted anywhere for oiled wildlife response, hurricane response or other wildlife emergencies. The containers include over 3000 various sizes of plastic crates/kennels, 44 large cases of towels, paper towels, trash bags, feeding bowls, etc. We have free standing wooden cages equipped with infrared heat. A 38 ft. bus with 24 stainless cages and 2 surgery tables with anesthesia machines is available for staging, triage or transport of animals to the Wildlife Center. The bus has a generator and is air-conditioned. A 48 foot custom built two section enclosed top trailer with a 10,000-watt generator, three air conditioning units with a built-in water tank and fueling station can also be dispatched.  WR&E also has a 12 person van for the transportation of personnel and supplies.

 Wildlife Rehab & Education is on the advisory council for the Texas State Animal Resource Team (TXSART), a program of the Texas Veterinary Medical Foundation that coordinates preparedness, response and recovery efforts for animals affected by disasters in the state of Texas.

Is WR&E ready to respond to a catastrophe of this magnitude? Yes we are!!

Cyndi Bohannon

The Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) is arguably one of the most majestic of all raptors. Solitary in nature, a group would be called a Parliament. Of the order Strigifermes and family Strigidae, the Great Horned owl is considered a “true owl”. The other owl family, Tytonidae include barn owls. Eight sub-species have been recognized. The territories of sub-species rarely overlap.

The largest owl in the United States, it can stand 18 to 27 inches and have a wingspan of 48 to 60 inches! The Great Horned owl is the most widely distributed true owl in the Americas, inhabiting all ecosystems except deep desert and Arctic tundra. The overall coloration ranges from near white in the far northern portion of their range to dark chocolate brown in the southern regions.

Size and weight varies geographically with the larger, heavier individuals living in colder climates. The females are larger than the males and weight ranges between two and a half and four pounds. All sub-species share the overall markings: prominent ear-tufts or “horns”, white patch at the throat, narrow bars on the front and a random mottled back.

The Great Horned Owl primarily hunts at night, but sightings at dawn and dusk are not unusual. Perched high above an open area, it silently swoops down upon almost anything that moves. Its diet is extremely diverse, but small to medium mammals, birds and waterfowl are favorites. It is the only known predator of the skunk.

Unlike many raptors, the Great Horned Owl will walk on the ground to gather crawfish, amphibians, reptiles or large insects. It have been known to walk into henhouses and wade into shallow water for a meal. Owls swallow small prey whole or take larger prey to a safe perch.

It is estimated that the Great Horned Owl can lift prey up to twice its weight. Non-digestible portions of dinner such as feathers, hair and bone are compacted by the stomach into a tight pellet which is regurgitated. These pellets yield a fascinating glimpse into the diet of the Great Horned Owl.

The most dramatic feature of the Great Horned Owl’s feet are the talons; needle sharp points pierce prey easily. But several adaptations allow for more efficient hunting. The underside of the owl’s foot is rough and knobby which provides superior grasping. The bones of the foot are much stronger than other birds to survive the impact with prey. Without conscious thought, the talons continue to ratchet closed until the owl decides to open them. Massive thigh muscles give the talons their strength.

Like other birds, the “relaxed” position of the feet is closed. This helps keep the owl on its perch even when it is asleep. Two of the four toes always face forward and one of the four toes always face backward. The fourth toe is uniquely flexible and faces forward during flight and backward when perching. During a strike, the toes fan into an oval shape.

Adaptations in eyesight and hearing make the Great Horned Owl a formidable predator. At a glance, the bright golden yellow eyes mesmerize the observer. Contrary to popular lore, the nocturnal Great Horned Owl has equally excellent vision during the day and the dead of night. The eyes are not spherical like mammals, but instead are oblong and fixed in bony orbs. To compensate, the neck has fourteen neck vertebrae allowing for 270 degrees of rotation.

  Great  Horned Owls have three eyelids. The top eyelid “blinks”, owls frequently blink eyes independently of each other, appearing to wink at the observer. The lower eyelid raises to meet the closed upper lid for sleeping. A third eyelid, a translucent nictitating eyelid functions as a “windshield  wiper” that slides across the eye at a 45 degree angle.

The Great Horned Owl’s extraordinary hearing depends on many adaptations, including a  much larger and more complex area of the brain that processes hearing located in the medulla. The asymmetric placement of ears allows the Great Horned Owl to triangulate the source of a sound without tilting or twisting the head. Facial disks and “ear” tufts can be shaped much like a radar dish to channel sounds even more effectively.

The feathers of the Great Horned Owl are uniquely designed to limit the noise of flight. Compared to other birds, owls have few down feathers, instead the contour feathers have downy barbules and the leading edge has flutings or fimbriare. The wings are relatively large and rounded which allows for slow silent flight. The Great Horned Owl is a perfectly designed stealth hunter. Even the legs and feet are covered in feathers! These tiny feathers provide warmth and act as tactile sensors.

The courtship between owls begin in October and is marked by greatly increased vocalizations as single owls try to locate mates. By December, the mated pairs will begin singing duets. The female may be physically larger, but the male’s voice is much lower. Pairs are monogamous and remain in their territory year round. This territory is aggressively protected while the pair is raising chicks.

Pairs often start with an abandoned raven or squirrel nest and proceed to improve it. Tree hollows are sometimes selected. Either way, mating occurs in the early spring, resulting in a usual clutch of two eggs. Incubation is 30 – 37 days and the hatchlings will be brooded continuously for two weeks.

Hatchlings are bright white puffballs that slowly gain their distinctive plumage.  Nestlings move from the nest to nearby branches at about six weeks and fledge a week or two later. 

Great Horned owlets are one of the first animals that arrive at the Wildlife Center each spring. Great Horned Owls nest much earlier than other birds because survival of their offspring hinge on the babies being old enough to hunt at the peak of summer.

This year saw a dramatic increase in the numbers of Great Horned owlets finding their way to us for care. It is believed that the Ike ravaged squirrel and crow nests did not provide a sufficient base for the Great Horned owls to embellish.

The people who bring us orphaned and injured native Texas wildlife and their stories begin to blend together after a time, but what I’ve often noticed is that saving this one animal or this one litter or clutch takes on a life of its own. One that is much bigger that the simple act of kindness in bringing an animal for care and surrendering it to a wildlife rehabilitator for treatment.

Deep emotions are frequently revealed when at last someone says “Yes, I can help”. This single act could be a turning point, never to be forgotten; the discovery of an avocation; a cathartic release that even though a loved one had not been spared, the person COULD save this animal. A weight could be lifted that was much greater than most persons would ascribe to the life or death of an animal.

Animals whether they are domestic or wild bring to us ways of dealing with emotions that we either didn’t know what to do with or realized that we even had.

I’ve heard stories – the man who’s wife of many years died of cancer brought a  fluffy yellow duckling to us to save. In some small way he was filling that empty uselessness he felt as she slipped away from him.

The man who needed to be needed and in a quirk of fate, even though he wasn’t a big animal lover, began building cages great and small.

The 12 year old son that watches all of this and can trot out every speech I’ve ever made, then quietly help me decide that this one can’t be saved and can’t be left to suffer. But there are so many more successes, the occasional broken heart is worth it.

It does make a difference

The Wildlife Center had been closed for an hour. It was the end of a very long day.  I was just getting ready to leave the Wildlife Center when the phone rang.  Normally after hours I would not pick up the phone but something nagged at me to take the call.  On the other end was the rescuer of patient number 09-100957.  A young boy had found an injured female Cardinal and his aunt was trying to find help for it.  She said her nephew was nine and was very concerned about the bird and wanted to make sure it got help.  I gave her directions and did another round of feeding while waiting on the boy and his dad to get to the Wildlife Center.  The bird had a slight head tilt and appeared to have a head injury.  I was able to stabilize the Cardinal and put her in a warm incubator.  I was so impressed that a nine year old boy would insist on getting help for his special little bird and that a dad would drop everything to take the bird to the Wildlife Center.  My new little friend Parker even made a donation to help care for our newest patient.  Thank you to a boy, his dad, and an aunt for caring for one of our native wildlife creatures and getting it the help it needed. FYI, Parker’s Cardinal was recently released in good health.

This spring, David called the Wildlife Center concerning a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus) who had drilled completely through a power pole in the Dickinson/Santa Fe area.

The largest woodpecker in the area, once seen, it can not be confused with any other bird. As large as a crow, the bright red crest crowns a handsome shiny black bird with white wing linings. The top bill is black and the lower bill is a medium tan (horn) colored.

The pole was seriously weakened by several excavations that fully penetrated the pole. The weight of the lines put it in danger of snapping.  CenterPoint agreed to preserve the woodpecker’s home. A new concrete pole was erected and the power lines transferred.  The male and female woodpeckers were last seen enjoying their home while the sturdy new pole was doing its job.  It is very rewarding to see companies peacefully coexisting with our native wildlife.