How to release a water bird back into the wild? (1 Viewer)

[Tanya22]

Hi everyone!

So my friend had rescued two green herons, out of which one passed away sadly.
The other one, Tara, has a broken leg which has set wrong, but he is otherwise healthy and has reached adulthood.

I've been thinking of releasing him at a lake in our city where other water birds and migratory birds have been spotted. He's an active and intelligent bird and loves filling soil inside his water bowl and dunks his fish in it if they get dry and even leaves to play with!

Is there any thing I should do before I release him? Any way to acclimatise him to the forest or just directly leave him there? I was thinking of building a little nest for him with his favourite cushion and toy.

Any tips would be appreciated.

 

[Mono]

I would consult a local animal rehab place. If the bird is imprinted on humans it may not ever be possible to release it into the wild.

 

[Deb Burhinus]

re? I was thinking of building a little nest for him with his favourite cushion and toy.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Yes, please don’t treat wild birds as pets, they don’t need for you to provide cushions and toys 😮

Definitely consult a licensed rehabber before releasing the bird. You could be consigning it to death if you have raised it as a chick and it has a leg that hasn’t set properly (herons stand stock still for very long periods in order to catch food, a poorly set leg could compromise it’s chance survival). The leg needs to be x-rayed before release to ensure the fracture site internally has healed. Not least, birds having been kept in captivity very likely have been imprinted on humans unless those ‘rescuing’ them have completely kept their emotional and physical boundaries between themselves and the bird intact. A professional wildlife rehabber avoids ’talking’, ‘petting’, ‘socialising’ with any bird in recovery purely to avoid that scenario and does a ‘slow release-rehabb’ programme before letting the bird go back into the wild.