South Island | New Zealand | Oxford Bird RescueGuest post by Scott Bowman

One of the things that New Zealand is famous for is our amazing bird life with people coming from all over the world to see some of the planets most unique and sometimes most endangered birds. The South Island is blessed with not only some amazing bird watching locations but also a number of organisations and shelters involved in both bird conservation and rescue/rehabilitation. We are honoured to be a small cog in that rescue machine as we service not only our local area but also certain types of birds from all over the South Island.

Almost half way through Spring most bird rescues are already filling up as we move into the busy season.

Depending on what type of birds you work with, the busy season can be all year. At the moment OBR is inundated with ducklings that come in for a number of different reasons. Sometimes the mother is killed and people gather up the ducklings, others, which are often the ‘runt,’ are simply left behind unable to keep up as the rest move around foraging for food, while others can appear courtesy of the pet cat.

Either way for the first part of Spring lots and lots of ducklings find their way to rehabbers and rescue shelters all over the country.

Here at Oxford Bird Rescue we generally care for  300 - 400 ducklings in a season and often can have over 100 at a time of varying ages and sizes.

Over the years we have developed our own techniques for successfully rehabbing these ducklings ensuring that when we release them at 12 weeks old they are fully fledged with full adult flight feathers, waterproof and able to naturally forage for food. On average we have a success rate of about 90% survival through to release and we are always looking at ways to improve that.

You can also follow our progress and meet our rehab candidates on our Facebook page. 

In your travels if you do come across any injured or abandoned birds you think may be in need of help, New Zealand Bird Rescue Charitable Trust can advise you on your nearest bird rescue centre. 

There are never any guarantees that a bird will survive but it is extremely rewarding to be involved in a successful rescue, rehab and release when it does.