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Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research
MONTHLY FLYER
A Volunteer Newsletter
June 2014
Celebrating 38 years of excellence in
wildlife rehabilitation and research
Photo: Hank Davis
Editor: Loretta Carlson
CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS: THE BABIES HAVE ARRIVED
As of May 29, our caseload had swelled to nearly 200 birds! Robins, grackles, wrens, and song sparrows fill
the incubators; wood ducklings require special care; and nestling owls round out the cast of young characters
as we enter the summer of 2014. Of course, we also have adult birds in-house, including three bald eagles.
We need plenty of volunteers—six for the morning and afternoon shifts and at least three for the evening—to
feed these hungry babies every 15 to 20 minutes from dawn to dusk.
Although it seems like we have a lot of interns (see article on page 4), the part-timers will be coming in just
one or two days a week. For shifts to run smoothly, we still need six volunteers per shift. More importantly,
the interns are looking forward to working with you—Tri-State’s seasoned volunteers—and learning from your
years of experience.
So please sign up for a shift on the calendar in the Volunteer Room or check the calendar on our Web site to
see where we need help most. We’ve added a third shift for the summer, and we are short-handed—especially
for the evening and weekend shifts. Our three shifts are as follows: 8 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., 1 to 6:15 p.m., and 6
to 10 p.m. The 15-minute overlap allows a smooth transition between shifts.
If you cannot work a full shift, but you find yourself with some unexpected free time—even a couple of
hours—call Julie at (302) 737-9543, extension 102, and she will let you know how you can help. Thank you!
Clinic Safety and Etiquette Reminders: Wear closed-toe shoes when working in the clinic. Sandals, crocs,
and other open-toe styles do not afford protection should you trip or drop something on your foot.
Please remember that all volunteers and staff members should park in the upper lot. We need room in the
lower lot for transporters and members of the general public bringing in baby birds and other patients. If you
are working the third shift, you may park in the lower lot. Volunteers who have difficulty walking or other
health issues may park in the lower lot at any time.
Please do not use your cell phone while you are working around the birds. Not only could making and
responding to calls or texts distract you from your work and become a safety hazard, but the sudden ringing
or “pinging” of the phone also could be stressful for the birds. Keep your phone in your car or the Volunteer
Room. You may send and receive calls or texts in the Volunteer Room, breakout area, or any of the offices.
RECENT RELEASES
One of Wilmington’s peregrine falcons made a brief outpatient appearance at the clinic in mid-May. Soon after
he fledged, the youngster was found on the street and brought to Tri-State by a Good Samaritan. A physical
exam and survey radiographs gave the youngster a clean bill of health, and he was returned to his parents’
care and the oversight of the Peregrine Falcon Fledge Watch team. As of May 23, this falcon and his three nest
mates were doing well.
We released a long-time patient on May 15. A passerby found the male red-tailed hawk by the side of a road
in New Castle on February 1. The hawk was emaciated, had several broken feathers, and older wounds and
fractures that were starting to heal. Concerned about possible infection, we started the hawk on a course of
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antibiotics and administered fluids and pain medications. The injuries to his left
leg and foot were quite painful, and the bird was reluctant to put his full weight
on them. After a week of supportive care, foot soaks, and bandage changes, the
hawk’s activity level increased as his condition improved, and he began eating on
his own. Another course of treatment was necessary to clear up his infections,
and we implanted new feathers so the hawk could be housed outside at the end
of February. His flight skills steadily improved once Jackie Kozlowski began his
flight-conditioning program in March, and he became even stronger when we
moved him to a flight cage for extended exercise. We banded the hawk and
released him at Tri-State.
A bald eagle also had an extended stay at the Tri-State clinic. Admitted on
February 27 from Worcester County in Maryland, the underweight female had
Red-tailed hawk release
Staff Photo
significant damage to her flight feathers and a healed injury to her right eye that
did not compromise her vision. Routine blood work showed elevated lead levels,
and we began chelation treatment. Because five primaries on one wing were broken, the eagle could not fly.
We made the decision to implant donor feathers into the broken shafts so that she could begin to exercise and
would not need to be held in captivity until she molted. As she adjusted to the new feathers and her fitness
improved, the eagle’s flight became stronger. We banded and released her on May 11.
In contrast to these two long-term patients, a swamp sparrow spent only one week in our care recovering
from an apparent window strike. The easily stressed male was fluffed and held his eyes closed when he came
to us. He had bruising on his shoulder and side and a small cut over his right eye. With warm compresses for
the eyes, topical steroids, and pain medications to soothe him, the swamp sparrow soon settled down and
began self-feeding. Within five days of admission, he was ready for an outside cage and flight exercise. By
May 14, the swamp sparrow was flying and maneuvering well, allowing us to release him in Maryland.
Although people understand the catastrophic effects that petroleum oil spills can have on birds, many do not
realize that other types of oil can also harm them. In late March, a Carolina wren contaminated with cooking
oil came to the clinic after receiving initial treatment from rehabilitators at Second Chance in Maryland. A
West Virginia homeowner found the wren covered in cooking oil and stuck in a stove. Besides the
contamination of its feathers, legs, and feet, the bird also suffered abrasions and broken feathers due to the
entrapment. The wren was feisty on admission, however, and eagerly began to self-feed mealworms. Once we
ensured the bird’s condition was stable, we washed it, and then moved the wren to an outside enclosure to
minimize its contact with humans and reduce its stress level. At first, our patient’s flight was labored, and it
was unable to gain much lift. By early May, however, the wren regained its strength, and soon its flight skills
improved as well. Tri-State and Second Chance volunteer Lee Prouty released the Carolina wren in
Gaithersburg on May 4.
A young clapper rail apparently hit by a car in Atlantic City came to us on April 30. Underweight and dazed,
the rail miraculously escaped major injury, sporting only an old toe fracture that was fully healed. The rail
perked up soon after he received fluids, a dose of pain medication, and spent some time on a heating pad. By
the next day, the rail was eating crickets and mealworms and actively moving around his box. When we
transferred him to an outside cage a few days after his arrival, he immediately began flying. After giving him a
couple more days to regain his strength, we banded the rail and volunteer Tom Jones released him at Dragon
Run Park in Delaware City on May 9. Learn more about the clapper rail in this month’s Featured Bird article.
OTHER RELEASES IN MAY
In May, we also released the following adults: an osprey, a wood duck, a wood thrush, a gray catbird,
mourning doves, and American robins. We reunited the following babies with their families or placed them
with foster families: mallards, Canada geese, an American crow, a great horned owl, eastern screech owls,
American robins, Carolina chickadees, mourning doves, and a common grackle.
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RECORD CROWD AT THE OPEN HOUSE
We didn’t think it was possible to exceed our 2013 number
of 650, but it happened. Tri-State’s annual Open House
attracted an estimated 850 guests. More than 785 guests
enjoyed the new self-guided tours of the Frink Center for
Wildlife. We had food offerings from I Don’t Give a Fork,
Natalie’s Fine Foods, and Dino’s Ice Cream. The kids’
activities entertained our young bird enthusiasts, our
sponsors and exhibitors interacted with the crowd, and we
provided Tri-State merchandise and baked goodies for sale,
all under our Big Top tent. Phung Luu and Jackie Kozlowski
of Animal Behavior and Conservation Connections brought
their trained birds, including a parrot that took donations
from guests’ hands and stuffed them into a donation box.
Phung Luu and Barb Druding, Tri-State board director,
Tri-State extends a special thanks to the planning
watch the parrot accept a donation from a young guest.
Photo by Russ Carlson
committee and our dedicated volunteers, staff, and board
members who freely gave their time and talents to
Many Thanks to Open House Sponsors!
support our efforts. With the new Wildlife Response Annex
Advanced Skin Care Center & MedSpa, Animal Hospital
scheduled for completion later this year, it should be open
of Chester County, Clineff’s Clean Outs, Concord Pet
for tours in 2015. Mark your calendars now for Tri-State’s
Foods & Supplies, Governors Avenue Animal Hospital,
Open House on Sunday, May 3, 2015.
Herr Foods, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware,
OIL TEAM ON THE GO
The Tri-State Oil Spill Team has been busy the past two
months responding to oil spills, conducting assessments,
and attending meetings and conferences throughout the
United States and Canada to nurture relationships with
colleagues.
Lindsey’s Well Pet Mobile Vet, Lums Pond Animal Hospital,
Marine Pollution Control, Pike Creek Animal Hospital,
Richardson’s Floral Center, SaveWay Compounding
Pharmacy, VCA Kirkwood Animal Hospital, Veterinary
Specialty Center of Delaware, Wake Up Yoga—Philadelphia,
Wild Birds Unlimited—Hockessin, Windcrest Animal
Hospital, and WSFS Bank.
Team members provided their expertise and assistance at a spill in Texas and led a wildlife response during a
pipeline release in Ohio. These spills occurred at the same time and lasted several weeks. Although no birds
were affected in Ohio, the team cared for and cleaned salamanders, crawfish, and frogs. A few short weeks
after those responses finished, two train derailments prompted industry partners in Maryland and Virginia to
call Tri-State. These calls came within hours of each other and once again the team was split. In both
instances, Tri-State performed extensive wildlife field impact surveys and found no affected wildlife.
While Tri-State was still responding to the incidents in Ohio and Texas, one Oil Programs team member was
able to attend an Arctic Oil & Gas Issues meeting in St. John's, Newfoundland. The day after the Maryland and
Virginia responses concluded, the team went to Savannah, Georgia, for the International Oil Spill Conference.
At this event Tri-State assisted in a Wildlife Planning Short Course, manned an exhibit booth, attended many
presentations, had meetings with industry and agency colleagues, and presented at the Wildlife Theater. TriState also attended the Global Oiled Wildlife Response System meeting to continue the development of an
international wildlife response network.
In May, team members attended Regional Response Team Meetings in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and
Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Tri-State attends such meetings to learn the concerns for the regions and to
meet the local partners that we work with during a response.
FEATURED BIRD: CLAPPER RAIL
Like all members of the Rallidae family, the clapper rail spends much of its time on land in meadows, marshes,
and swamps. Also like most rails, the clapper rail is more often heard than seen. It gives its grating kek-kekkek call primarily at dusk.
A large rail at 14 to 16 inches long, the clapper rail is gray-brown overall with a long thin bill and a very short
tail. It has gray to brown flanks with white barring. Its compact body allows it to slip through dense
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vegetation. Feeding in salt marshes or mudflats at low tide, the
clapper rail eats crustaceans, worms, amphibians, reptiles, mollusks,
small fish, and aquatic insects.
Clapper rails form monogamous pairs, and the males build their
basket-like nests of vegetation and materials found in their marsh
and swamp habitat. They have one or two broods of five to twelve
young each year. Both parents incubate the eggs, and the precocial
young leave the nest soon after hatching. They go off on their own
when they are about thirty-five to forty-two days old and take their
first flight when they are sixty-three to seventy days old.
Photo by Kim Steininger
Learn more about the clapper rail at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s
All About Birds Web site, www.allaboutbirds.org, as well as in Birds of
North America, published by the Smithsonian Institution, or your own
favorite birding book.
SUMMER STAFF BRING MUCH-NEEDED SUPPORT
Each year, with the return of summer residents and the beginning of nesting bird season, Tri-State also
welcomes our summer staff. Don’t be surprised to see familiar faces wearing more than one hat.
New Clinic Supervisor
Sierra Hanson hails from Somerdale, New Jersey, and is currently a bird-care assistant at Tri-State. She has
recently graduated from the University of Delaware with a wildlife conservation major.
Seasonal Supervisor
Jenny Caldwell will join our staff this summer to keep the clinic running smoothly. Jenny has experience as a
veterinary technician, started as a Tri-State volunteer in 2010, and has completed bird-care assistant and relief
supervisor training.
Seasonal Clinic Staff and Trainers
John Grodzicki will assist with oversight of the outside caseload through direct care and by mentoring interns
and volunteers working with these birds.
Rachel Bishop and Karen Wenner-Pedersen will assist with the training and mentoring of interns.
Mauri Liberati will join us as nursery/special-species staff this summer. Her role will be to support the
nursery intern and the supervisors with the care of special-needs species. Mauri will start a PhD program at
the University of Connecticut in mid-August.
Clinic Interns—Full season (12+ weeks)
Cassie Kane, a returning intern from 2013, is from Annandale, Virginia, and a current Tri-State volunteer.
This year’s senior intern, she is a graduate of the University of Delaware with a degree in wildlife conservation.
Cassie has studied in Tanzania and worked as a teacher-naturalist at Delaware Nature Society. Since 2013 she
has been a bird-banding volunteer with Willistown Conservation Trust.
Christin Meilink has worked as an intern at several rehabilitation centers, including the Sharon Audubon
Center in Connecticut and the California Wildlife Center. She has also interned at the Topeka Zoo in Kansas
and at several veterinary clinics in Florida. A Florida native, she graduated from Florida State University in
biological sciences, with a minor in chemistry in 2013.
Kali Cotteleer hails from Vernon Hills, Illinois. She is a senior at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with a
major in wildlife ecology-information and education and a double minor in biology and captive wildlife. She has
interned at Barnswallow, a wild bird concern in Illinois, for three consecutive summers where she gained
experience with rehabilitation and bird care and specialized in baby bird care.
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Meagan Demeter recently finished her senior year as an environmental studies student at the University of
Delaware. She has been actively involved at the Philadelphia Zoo as a seasonal employee, barnyard
interpreter, and animal care intern.
Sarah Greenlee is a native Delawarean and a rising senior at the University of Delaware with a major in
wildlife conservation and a minor in animal science. While completing an internship at Kruger Park in
South Africa, she delved into the world of ornithology. She volunteered at Tri-State in 2012.
Jenny Schmidt hails from Shamong, New Jersey, and has completed her sophomore year at the University of
Delaware as a wildlife conservation major. Last summer she volunteered at the Nature Center at Batsto
Historic Village State Park in New Jersey, and she recently worked as an environmental education naturalist
intern at Lums Pond State Park.
Clinic Interns—Part Season
Laura Beimfohr comes from Oxford, Pennsylvania, and is a recent graduate of East Stroudsburg University
of Pennsylvania. There she majored in environmental studies and minored in physical geography. She is
working at DuPont Crop Protection this year along with her part-time internship with Tri-State.
Kyle Civalier is from Sewell, New Jersey, and attends Virginia Tech with a dual major in animal and poultry
science and fisheries science. Kyle hopes to establish a career in the Department of Fish and Wildlife after he
graduates next year.
Emily DuPont is native to Wilmington, Delaware, but spends her school year in Athens at the University of
Georgia as a pre-veterinary medicine student majoring in biology with an area of emphasis in neuroscience
and a minor in Spanish.
Kristin Johanson graduated from the University of Delaware in 2009 with a major in theatre production and
a concentration in properties and paint. After some soul searching, the current Tri-State volunteer went back
to school as a wildlife conservation major.
Kayla Letterman is from Elkton, Maryland, and attends Washington College in Chestertown as a preveterinary medicine student. She is actively involved with the SPCA and Kent County Humane Society and has
volunteered at Plumpton Park Zoo.
Delaney Martin is from West Chester, Pennsylvania, and attends California University of Pennsylvania where
she majors in environmental studies with a concentration in conservation ecology. She has been involved in
fieldwork with mark and recapture of small mammals, ear tagging, and data collection.
Lakshmi Sastry is a Middletown resident who attends the University of Delaware with a dual major in preveterinary medicine and animal bioscience and biology and a minor in wildlife conservation.
Bridgid Twomey is a rising second-year veterinary student at the University of Pennsylvania. Originally from
Tucson, Arizona, she has volunteer experiences working with giraffes, gorillas, and African hornbills as an
animal care aide at the Santa Barbara Zoo, and she has been a long-term volunteer with the Santa Barbara
Wildlife Care Network.
Melissa Volpone is a University of Delaware student with a pre-veterinary medicine and animal biosciences
major. She has been volunteering with Tri-State since 2013 and recently was invited to join the bird-care
assistant program. She has also spent a month in South Africa at the Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre.
Daniel Wilson, a native of Newark, Delaware, is a biology major at DelTech. In addition to school, he has
been staying busy with his job at Pet Kare II and training in ju-jitsu.
Caylen Wolfer hails from Wyoming, Delaware, and attends the University of Delaware as a wildlife
conservation major. She previously volunteered at Tri-State during the summer of 2011.
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WHO’S WHO AT TRI-STATE: MEET REBECCA STANSELL
A long-ago encounter with an injured pigeon led to Rebecca Stansell’s first visit to
Tri-State Bird Rescue. “I learned about Tri-State in grade school,” Rebecca says,
“and my parents helped me bring the pigeon to the clinic.”
Tri-State’s new marketing manager will publicize information about our success
stories, educate the public about wildlife safety and conservation, and encourage
people to participate as donors, volunteers, and advocates for Tri-State. She also
will ensure that donors receive prompt and appropriate recognition for their
contributions and encourage members to continue their support.
Rebecca has a strong background in marketing, previously working as the regional
marketing coordinator for a retail gift basket company and as an independent
marketing strategy consultant. She served two years as the marketing chair on the
board of the Young Professionals Network of the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce.
The self-described “cat lady” and “softy for animals of all kinds” jumped at the opportunity to be involved with
an organization whose mission focused on animal welfare. As she learns more about her responsibilities,
Rebecca says she is eager to work in the friendly, small-team atmosphere at Tri-State, which will give her the
chance to make a difference in the organization.
Rebecca and her husband, James, live with a finicky rescue cat that rules their household. A Phillies fan, doll
collector, and weekend seamstress, Rebecca also confesses having a weakness for classic cars, “though I’m
still shamefully bad at identifying a lot of them.”
VOLUNTEER ANNIVERSARIES FOR JUNE
26 years: Lisa Robinson 21 years: Fran Peterson 18 years: Helene Harris and Karen Wenner-Pedersen
11 years: Anne Kisielewski 10 years: Jan McCullough 9 years: Betty Jane Anderson 8 years: Katie
Bartling and Patti Root 7 years: Cheryl and John Zimmerman 5 years: Rebecca Saville 3 years: Christine
Perkins and Hinda Smith 2 years: Sofia Balleto and George Christopher
Welcome to the new clinic and clinic support volunteers who joined us in May. You’ve come at a time when
we need you most. Please introduce yourself and don’t be afraid to ask questions. We all learn from one
another.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Giant Yard Sale. Saturday, October 4, 2014. The trailer to accept donations will arrive at Tri-State in
June. See upcoming issues of The Flyer for more details.
Benefit for the Birds. Friday, October 24. Our theme this year is Trick or Tweet: Black and Orange
Benefit for the Birds. For information, contact Duke Doblick in the Development office at (302) 737-9543,
extension 108, or via e-mail at [email protected].