Injured baby birds flown by airline to Ontario for rehab

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This article was published 29/09/2017 (2938 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Four young at-risk birds have been successfully rescued, rehabilitated and relocated, thanks to a group effort by various agencies.

Rochelle Squires, minister of sustainable development, recognized the efforts of Parks Canada, the Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative, and wildlife rehabilitation centres in Manitoba and Ontario on Friday, for their efforts to save four chimney swift birds.

“The caring and commitment shown by all the partners in this rescue demonstrates that there are a lot of people with their hearts in the right place. Everyone in this remarkable collaborative effort went the extra mile, resulting in the introduction of these young birds to a new flock in order to survive,” Squires said.

With an estimated population between 300 and 1,000, chimney swifts are recognized as a threatened species in Manitoba.

A nest fell from a chimney in a heritage building at Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site in St. Andrews in August. Four abandoned chimney swift chicks were found by Parks Canada staff, who rescued the chicks before they were transferred to the Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre.

Before the chicks could be released to the wild, they needed to be reintegrated into a larger flock., but by the time they were ready, the adult birds had already left Lower Fort Garry.

The decision was made to fly the birds by commercial airline to London, Ont., where they received two weeks of rehabilitation and flight training, before they were released into a flock of 500 adult chimney swifts.

The birds, which travel in flocks, migrate to South America for the winter, before returning to Manitoba in May.