Thrush Releases

I was fortunate enough to be the driver and release person for a few migratory songbirds this week. Two of which were my favourite Thrush species, the Wood Thrush. Beautiful birds with beautiful songs; but that can be said for so many bird species, right?

Anyway, it was a great distraction for me to help get these birds back to a wild life.

These guys were pretty stressed out come release time. Understandable because they have no idea what is going on. "Why am I not outside? Why are there these big monsters around me? Why did I just get put in the dark (a wax free paper bag)?" These are things they must wonder while at the rehabilitation centre. The paper bag is what they travel in on their way to release. They won't damage their feathers as they flutter and struggle inside. It's the best we can do for them during this time. We like to think that all the animals know we are only trying to help them, but that isn't so. I have found that warblers are rather quick to going back to business as I call it, forgetting about the past in seconds. Some of the bigger birds, not as fast. Once again, it is understandable to me. They are released and are confused. They cautiously take in their surroundings before flying off.

You see can see in these photos of how the bird is upon initial release to a few minutes later when it realizes it is once again a wild and free bird.

Look how this one stands up straight and narrow.

A few minutes later, he relaxes a little bit. His head feathers still show that he is not completely at ease just yet.

I was hoping to get another photo of him but he flew off. With any releases that I do, I leave it up to the birds on how it plays out. I will not chase any for a picture. If they hang around, okay cool. If not, a silent wish of safe travels as they go on with their life.

This guy wasn't as freaked out upon release as the first but you can see the display of the head feathers that he isn't relaxed. The feathers went up, they went down, they went back up and then down again. He made a funny grunting kind of call in the near 10 minutes he sat on this branch. That's another thing for me with releases; I tend to hang out in the spot until they fly off.

He eventually flew to another shrub nearby. He was starting to relax.

A few more minutes passed and he then flew well off and out of sight.

I don't know if you see what I see in the photos and my attempt to describe what was happening. Maybe you just have to be there? And maybe this was just my attempt at putting out a blog again? I really do have some sort of writer's block going on. The pandemic and everything that goes with it certainly is a factor. The wild ones around me sure do help me though; more than what some people will ever understand. I could never imagine a world without wildlife.

Being a volunteer at Toronto Wildlife is something that I am very proud of. I do wish I had more time to spare than what I do. One day...