CONTENTS
Chapter 1- Wildlife Rehabilitation
- Why we do it?
- What is involved?
- When is rehabilitation not an option?
Chapter 2 – Coexisting with birds
- The ethics of care
- Why should we help disadvantaged wild animals?
- How we can better live with and not adversely affect birds?
- Setting up a bird friendly garden
- Bird Friendly areas in the wider community
- Where to find help?
- Wildlife rehabilitation organisations and shelters
- The Law and Caring for Wild Birds
- How do birds come into care?
- The Future?
Chapter 3 – Identification
- Carnivores
- Raptors, kookaburras and butcherbirds
- Insectivores
- Sea birds
- Waterbirds
- Waders
- Omnivores
- Nectarivores
- Frugivores
- Granivores
Chapter 4 – Bird behaviour
- Bird Behaviour
- Preening and bathing
- Communication
- Migration
- Intelligence
- Predators
- Food gathering_
- Begging behaviour in young birds
Chapter 5 – General physical aspects and rehabilitation
- Skeleton
- Feathers
- Digestive system
- Respiratory System
- The Senses
- Vision
- Hearing
- Smell and other senses
- Over-stimulation
- Salt Glands in Sea Birds
Chapter 6 – Catching a sick or injured bird
- Useful items often used when catching and transporting birds
- Catching with a net on the ground
- Catching a bird using only a towel
- Special Precautions
- Parrots
- Small birds
- Large birds
- Raptors
- Small ducklings
- Catching a bird that can still fly
- Special Situations
- Birds caught in netting covering fruit trees
- Birds trapped in a swimming pool
- Fishing line entanglement
- Birds trapped in buildings
- Large flightless birds
Chapter 7 – Examination
- Dehydration
- Body temperature
- Head
- Wings
- Feathers
- Body
- Legs
- Weight
- Internal
- Poisoning
Chapter 8 – First Aid
- What is shock?
- Signs of shock
- Shock and dehydration
- Treatment for shock
- Stabilisation
- Measurement of body temperature
- Heat Stress
- Simple first aid kit for rescuers
Chapter 9 – Stress
- Stages of stress
- How do we recognise stress in a bird?
- Types of stress
- Immediate Physical Stress
- Normal Physical Stress
- Perceived Mental stress
- Actual Mental stress
- Normal Mental Stress
- Ways to reduce stress
Chapter 10 – Common injuries and diseases
- Head injuries
- Concussion
- Eye damage
- Beak Injuries
- Neck injuries
- Internal injuries
- The signs and symptoms of possible internal injuries
- Broken bones
- Skin tears
- Feather damage
- Feather Removal
- To pluck feathers from a bird
- Metabolic bone disease (MBD)
- Signs of MBD
- Treatment for MBD
- Sticky substances on birds
- Removal of sticky substances
- Birds caught by a cat or a dog
- Standard treatment for cat attack victims
- Birds that have been shot
- Hook and/or fishing line entanglement
- Illness resulting from poisoning
- Symptoms of pesticide poisoning include
- Treatment of pesticide poisoning victims
- Parasites
- Signs of external parasites
- Avoid further infestation by parasites
- Signs for suspecting an overload of internal parasites are
- Avoiding further parasite build up
- Infectious diseases
- Viral Diseases
- Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD) in parrots
- PBFD in Lorikeets
- PBFD in birds other than parrots
- Treatment of PBFD
- Aspergillosis
- Chlamydiosis
- Pox
- Bacterial Infections
- Signs of Bacterial infections
- Bumble Foot
- Botulism
Chapter 11- Housing
- Housing for sick / injured / or young birds
- The Essential Aviary Requirements
- General
- Cover
- Size
- Plants
- Floor
- Compost
- Food
- Water
- Exercise
- Renovating old aviaries
- Special Aviaries
- Parrot Aviaries
- Sea Bird Aviaries
- Temporary enclosures
- Predator exclusion
- Housing different types of birds together
- The external environment
- Principles when housing many birds
- Cage cleaning
Chapter 12 – Feeding
- Diet
- Weight monitoring
- Feeding insectivorous birds
- Food to collect
- Food to buy
- Food to breed
- Types of insects found in the gizzards of native birds
- Insects found in birds that feed in the sky include
- Insects found in birds that feed in the upper foliage include
- Insects found in birds that feed in middle and low foliage include
- Insects found in birds that feed on the trunk of trees include
- Insects found in birds that feed in shrubs include
- Insects found in birds that feed on the ground include
- Insects found in birds that obtain their feed from underground include
- Foods eaten by insect-eating birds that feed in water include
- Insects found in birds that feed on other animals include
- Presentation of insects for birds
- Feeding nectarivarous birds
- Feeding granivorous birds
- Feeding frugivorous birds
- Feeding wading birds
- Feeding sea birds
- Feeding carnivorous birds
- Don’t use dog or cat food because
- Feeding debilitated birds
- How to force-feed a bird
- How to crop-feed a bird
- Some emergency diets
Chapter 13 – Orphaned birds
- Branchers
- Young birds handled by humans
- Young birds that are not injured
- Young birds that have fallen from the nest
- Types of young birds
- Housing for Precocial Young
- Housing for Altricial Young
- Vitamin D
- Immediate care of an unfledged bird
- Normal behaviours for young birds
- Average feed rates for some common birds
- Preening and bathing
- Sleep and rest
- Identification of young birds
- Moving a bird from nest to aviary
- Weaning to self feeding
- Educating a bird to normal behaviour
- Imprinting
- What is it?
- Precautions to take to avoid it
- What happens if a bird is imprinted
- Can it be reversed?
- How do you tell if a bird is imprinted
- What can be done to reduce the affects of imprinting
Chapter 14 – Release Preparation
- Habitat
- Group acceptance
- Weather
- Time
- Migration
- The Type Of Release
Chapter 15 – Care Plans
- Care plans are presented for the various bird groups and some individual species
- Raptor care guidelines – requirements of NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service
Appendices
- I. Weight ranges of some birds in the wild
- II. Migratory bird’ arrival and departure dates
- III. Making a feeding puppet
- IV. Building a flight aviary
- V. Calorie and Energy requirement charts
- VI. Wildlife organisations in Australia
Bibliography |