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CAPE WILDLIFE CENTER @2006
Young bobwhites in the wild at the Cape Wildlife Center. |
Eight northern bobwhites will soon be returning to the wilds of Cape Cod after spending over a year recuperating at the Cape Wildlife Center. Their injuries were sustained after living in a Bourne, Massachusetts, garage.
Ten days before Christmas, 2004, eight flabby, bald birds arrived at the center. Rescued by animal control officers, the bobwhites were the previous spring’s hatchlings. The birds were living in an elderly couple’s garage, the gift of a neighbor who had moved away.
Typically these familiar, small quail have brown plumage with white edges and inhabit farmlands, fields, pastures, and grasslands where they eat seeds, green leaves, insects, worms, and spiders. They shouldn’t inhabit suburban garages and exist on a diet of only birdseed. But, that’s the unfortunate story behind this bevy of quail.
Upon arrival at the center the birds looked nothing like northern bobwhites should. The birds’ backs were completely bald. What feathers they had were greasy, twisted and broken; their beaks and nails were overgrown and misshapen. An inappropriate diet had taken its toll, but the birds’ cramped living conditions also had led to aggressive behavior, which manifested itself in feather-picking attacks between siblings. The birds were a very sorry sight.
An avian specialist, Dr. Lucy Bartlett, was called in to assess the group. She helped remove the damaged feathers to encourage new growth and prescribed an appropriate diet, supplemented by vitamins and proteins. The birds were divided into two groups to alleviate dominance issues, and the aggressive birds were removed to a separate holding area.
The quail were a delightful addition to the center, as the calls between the two groups filled the bird ward with sounds not usually heard in the dead of winter. Over time, their feathers grew in, but the birds were still having problems. Staff stopped handling them; simply moving them to clean their area was causing their new feathers to break. One molt had not been enough. The staff hoped that more time on their special diet and a second molt would yield healthy new feathers. And it worked. By the end of March 2006, the eight, beautiful bobwhites could be moved outside to enjoy the spring weather and get acclimated to the outdoors. .
The birds would normally be returned to the area they came from, but their place of origin is unknown. So, the birds were released to join other permanent Cape Cod residents. Staff already miss the males’ loud calls, a loud clear whistle, “bob-WHITE!” .
posted June 19, 2006
