The bird care season started earlier this year and birds continue to flow through our doors. Of particular note is the more than 130 Ring-billed gulls that abandoned their nests as a result of the June heatwave. With rising temperatures, there has been more intense and frequent heat waves and heavy rains. This has expanded Le Nichoir’s rehabilitation season, and created the need to respond to emergency events, like the gulls, on a more regular basis.
The plight of the gulls, and other wild birds, act as a harbinger of the new challenges that we will face as temperatures continue to rise. They are like the canary in the coalmine, a warning that these changes in weather will ultimately impact humans too.
The Ring-billed gulls under Le Nichoir’s care were the lucky ones, saved by caring citizens and the SPCA of Montreal. Many were admitted with burnt feet, fractures, dislocations, wounds, dehydration and malnourishment. They are now being cared for by our volunteers and staff, working long hours to provide them with medical care, fish and vitamin supplements while cleaning their aviaries and much more. Once ready, which depends primarily on their age, they are being released into local colonies of wild gulls.