The Bird Rescue Center - Environmental Sustainability

Nominated by

Joanne Dow

Presented by

Diane Test, Merit Awards Committee

About

For almost 50 years, the volunteers at the Bird Rescue Center in Santa Rosa (https://birdrescuecenter.org/) have given their time, compassion, and expertise in tending to our feathered friends. Despite droughts, wildfires, and the pandemic, 120 individual volunteers help injured and orphaned birds seven days a week.Their collective volunteer hours total almost 25,000 each year, with about half of the volunteers living in Santa Rosa. Volunteers work on average about 16 hours a month. The rehab hospital receives about 3,000 patients a year and treats birds from five counties, with almost half within Santa Rosa city limits.

Volunteer jobs include hospital work feeding the birds, cleaning cages and assisting with care, answering phones sometimes from all over California and throughout the U.S. It’s not unusual to receive more than 100 calls per day. Experienced volunteers are highly trained, and some perform rehab treatments, flight evaluation, live prey training and play critical roles in the release program. Still, other volunteers handle outreach and programs that take ambassador birds to schools, fairs, and other public events.

In January 2021, the center asked the community to remove feeders and baths due to Salmonellosis, which became a serious and deadly problem. Currently, bird feeders and baths can now be used but should be cleaned weekly. The volunteers of the Bird Rescue Center are dedicated to nurturing, feeding, caring, and saving wild birds throughout our community.