[NatureNS] dovekie strandings...long

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Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2010 20:46:47 -0400
From: Helene Van Doninck <helene.birdvet@gmail.com>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
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Hi All,


 I am still getting lots of calls about stranded dovekies so I thought I
would make a little post in here to help people decide what to do. I have
gotten calls and birds from all over, but they seems to be stranding
everywhere as I have gotten calls from NB, PEI , Cape Breton and of course
the mainland. Several of the birds we have gotten are quite thin and have
died despite my best efforts and I am assuming some of these are hatch year
birds which have a pretty low survival rate anyway. I have also gotten
several in good body condition that are quite vigorous and are just victims
of the weather and been blown ashore. I'm giving the whole spiel here so if
I am saying a pile of stuff that people know about already..sorry :-)

So, Dovekies are pelagics and not normally on land unless they are nesting.
If they do come ashore they are pretty much toast as they can't take off
from land and can't even walk around very far due to the placement of their
legs. When people call, I try to convince them to bring them to me so I can
assess them and figure out if they are a healthy stranding or a thin bird in
trouble. If they are a healthy ( good body condition ) stranding, I keep
them long enough to get a dose of fluids and a meal into them and provided
the weather is good, bring them to the ocean. If they are thin or weak, I
keep them for several days, give them fluids and food, and decide when I
think they are healthy enough to go back. Of course some of these die as
they are in poor condition and have very little energy reserves left. A few
notes on dovekies in captivity....they generally will NOT eat in captivity
as they eat very tiny fish, crustaceans and copepods in the wild...I have
been able to get a few to self feed with tiny minnows. I feed them by
inserting a specially designed stainless steel tube into the crop via the
mouth. They dont like this but rarely regurgitate the food as it is a
slurry. I have tried to forcefeed minnows in the past..which they usually
just regurgitate back up. Many people want to put them in the tub...if your
water is hard you can interfere with their waterproofing and if they are in
dirty water ( fecal contamination) ..the same thing happens. Also, even oils
from your bare hands can compromise their waterproofing so they are best not
handled or if you must...wear gloves. I house mine on a suspended net bottom
pen so feces dont get on their feathers and allow limited access to softened
water to  let them drink on their own. River or seawater works too for
temporary housing. Warning..if they are thin or weak and are left alone in
water..they can drown...

Many people think they are are in good shape because they are bopping around
and trying to escape and look " puffy" which many equate with being "fat".
This is often far from the truth. The best way to assess body condition on
any bird is to feel the breast or pectoral muscles. Again..sorry if I am
preaching to the choir here but  I tell my volunteers and students to
imagine a  full chicken breast...the keel being the middle cartilage and the
plump breast muscles on either side. If you feel for the keel, you should
feel muscle on either side...in many cases close to level with the keel (
some seabirds have a more prominent keel and streamlined muscle...but you
shouldnt feel sharp keel)..if the keel is sticking out of the breast muscle
like a blade..they are thin and possibly even emaciated.. Some birds will
beach on purpose when they are dying and if you put them back in the water
they will just drown or beach again. For this reason I try to get people to
bring them to me so I can examine them before putting them back in the
water.

Lastly...my husband and I shot this little video for our
website/blog/facebook to help people who have found these birds identify
them. The one that seems lame...is. The other 2 are fine and were released.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVWHgO5of-Q

 Ive had 4 more calls tonight about more of them. Feel free to pass on my
contact info below to anyone who has found one and if I can help  I will.

Thanks

Helene

-- 
Helene Van Doninck DVM
Cobequid Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre
RR#1 Brookfield NS B0N1C0
902-893-0253
birdvet@hotmail.com
www.cwrc.net
2011 Wildlife Calendars Now Available
http://www.cwrc.net/images/2011_calendar/CWRC_2011_Calendar_lo_for_web.pdf
Online order form :
http://www.cwrc.net/2011_calendar.shtml

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Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Hi All,<div><br></div><div><br></div><div>=A0I am still getting lots of cal=
ls about stranded dovekies so I thought I would make a little post in here =
to help people decide what to do. I have gotten calls and birds from all ov=
er, but they seems to be stranding everywhere as I have gotten calls from N=
B, PEI , Cape Breton and of course the mainland. Several of the birds we ha=
ve gotten are quite thin and have died despite my best efforts and I am ass=
uming some of these are hatch year birds which have a pretty low survival r=
ate anyway. I have also gotten several in good body condition that are quit=
e vigorous and are just victims of the weather and been blown ashore. I&#39=
;m giving the whole spiel here so if I am saying a pile of stuff that peopl=
e know about already..sorry :-)<br>
<br><div>So, Dovekies are pelagics and not normally on land unless they are=
 nesting. If they do come ashore they are pretty much toast as they can&#39=
;t take off from land and can&#39;t even walk around very far due to the pl=
acement of their legs. When people call, I try to convince them to bring th=
em to me so I can assess them and figure out if they are a healthy strandin=
g or a thin bird in trouble. If they are a healthy ( good body condition ) =
stranding, I keep them long enough to get a dose of fluids and a meal into =
them and provided the weather is good, bring them to the ocean. If they are=
 thin or weak, I keep them for several days, give them fluids and food, and=
 decide when I think they are healthy enough to go back. Of course some of =
these die as they are in poor condition and have very little energy reserve=
s left. A few notes on dovekies in captivity....they generally will NOT eat=
 in captivity as they eat very tiny fish, crustaceans and copepods in the w=
ild...I have been able to get a few to self feed with tiny minnows. I feed =
them by inserting a specially designed stainless steel tube into the crop v=
ia the mouth. They dont like this but rarely regurgitate the food as it is =
a slurry. I have tried to forcefeed minnows in the past..which they usually=
 just regurgitate back up. Many people want to put them in the tub...if you=
r water is hard you can interfere with their waterproofing and if they are =
in dirty water ( fecal contamination) ..the same thing happens. Also, even =
oils from your bare hands can compromise their waterproofing so they are be=
st not handled or if you must...wear gloves. I house mine on a suspended ne=
t bottom pen so feces dont get on their feathers and allow limited access t=
o softened water to =A0let them drink on their own. River or seawater works=
 too for temporary housing. Warning..if they are thin or weak and are left =
alone in water..they can drown...</div>
<div><br></div><div>Many people think they are are in good shape because th=
ey are bopping around and trying to escape and look &quot; puffy&quot; whic=
h many equate with being &quot;fat&quot;. This is often far from the truth.=
 The best way to assess body condition on any bird is to feel the breast or=
 pectoral muscles. Again..sorry if I am preaching to the choir here but =A0=
I tell my volunteers and students to imagine a =A0full chicken breast...the=
 keel being the middle cartilage and the plump breast muscles on either sid=
e. If you feel for the keel, you should feel muscle on either side...in man=
y cases close to level with the keel ( some seabirds have a more prominent =
keel and streamlined muscle...but you shouldnt feel sharp keel)..if the kee=
l is sticking out of the breast muscle like a blade..they are thin and poss=
ibly even emaciated.. Some birds will beach on purpose when they are dying =
and if you put them back in the water they will just drown or beach again. =
For this reason I try to get people to bring them to me so I can examine th=
em before putting them back in the water.=A0</div>
<div><br></div><div>Lastly...my husband and I shot this little video for ou=
r website/blog/facebook to help people who have found these birds identify =
them. The one that seems lame...is. The other 2 are fine and were released.=
</div>
<div><br></div><div><a href=3D"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DVVWHgO5of-Q=
">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DVVWHgO5of-Q</a></div><div><br></div><div=
>=A0Ive had 4 more calls tonight about more of them. Feel free to pass on m=
y contact info below to anyone who has found one and if I can help =A0I wil=
l.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Thanks</div><div><br></div><div>Helene<br clear=3D"all"=
><br>-- <br>Helene Van Doninck DVM<div>Cobequid Wildlife Rehabilitation Cen=
tre</div><div>RR#1 Brookfield NS B0N1C0</div><div>902-893-0253</div><div>
<a href=3D"mailto:birdvet@hotmail.com" target=3D"_blank">birdvet@hotmail.co=
m</a></div><div><a href=3D"http://www.cwrc.net" target=3D"_blank">www.cwrc.=
net</a></div><div>2011 Wildlife Calendars Now Available</div><div><a href=
=3D"http://www.cwrc.net/images/2011_calendar/CWRC_2011_Calendar_lo_for_web.=
pdf" target=3D"_blank">http://www.cwrc.net/images/2011_calendar/CWRC_2011_C=
alendar_lo_for_web.pdf</a></div>
<div>Online order form :</div><div><a href=3D"http://www.cwrc.net/2011_cale=
ndar.shtml" target=3D"_blank">http://www.cwrc.net/2011_calendar.shtml</a></=
div><div><br></div><br>
</div></div>

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