A juvenile mute swan rescued by Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation after striking a power line in Round Lake last week is in recovery, according to group founder Dawn Keller.
While Lake County residents can’t stop birds from striking power lines, Keller said there are plenty of ways to help protect birds, especially as Halloween approaches.
Last week Sunday, Round Lake Beach Police Officer Tim Goodwin was notified of calls for an injured bird. He found a swan sitting up against a fence and began calling around for a rehabilitation center, landing on Flint Creek.
When Keller arrived, she saw the bird try to stand up, but it couldn’t move. She took the bird back to her facility to be treated, and said it luckily had only suffered body trauma from the strike. Keller said she’s seen far worse, including open-wing fractures.
The swan will be in the rehab center’s care for a few weeks, Keller said. Meanwhile, a volunteer is doing some reconnaissance to find the parents of the year-old bird.
Keller said power lines, especially those near large bodies of water, are a “frequent problem.” She recalled one incident in the Island Lake area, where a power line ran over a “significant body of water.” Flint Creek rescued a pelican with a serious wing fracture and a sandhill crane along the same stretch of wires on the same day.
For Lake County residents looking for ways to help protect birds, Keller gave some advice on everyday things people do “completely innocently” that can injure or even kill birds.
“It’s not lack of caring; it’s just lack of knowledge sometimes,” she said.
Netting is a common issue, Keller said, whether recreational, like soccer or badminton nets, or protective, like bird netting used on trees or shrubs. She’s had to rescue plenty of owls and even a turkey vulture from soccer nets, and encourages people to take them down at the end of the day.
Fishing line or other filament also pose a risk, like those used to hang outside during the holidays. With Halloween coming up, it was something to consider. Keller recalled a screech owl she’d found tangled by the end of its wing tips on fishing line hanging Easter eggs from a tree.
“That poor bird ended up dying from the injury,” she said. “It had almost amputated the end of its wing.”
Keller also cautioned against the use of rodenticides. Poisoned animals that get outside can be eaten by birds of prey, who end up as secondary poisoning victims.
“Doing the right thing is never easy, but they are living things that deserve to be protected,” she said.
With millions of bird strikes every year and the many bird species that face endangerment, making an effort to help protect birds can impact the “survival of a species,” Keller said. She hoped by raising awareness, more people would work to address these small behaviors.
“If we can do something like drop a net or not hang ornaments from a fishing line, why wouldn’t we?” she said. “I think people use products or do things in their day-to-day life not realizing the hazards.”
Goodwin, who has a degree in biology and studied wildlife in college, was happy the swan was doing well.
“It’s always good when you get to see animals make a recovery, especially swans,” he said. “You don’t get to see those too often around here.”
If a resident spots an injured animal, Goodwin said they can contact the police or animal control to assist. Keller shared similar advice, saying people should call in experts if they spot a larger animal, and keep an eye on it until they arrive to make sure it doesn’t wander off.
However, Keller said if it’s a smaller animal, like a songbird, they can be put in a box with some kind of soft bedding like a towel and brought to a safe and warm area before contacting a licensed rehabber.
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