July and August have flown by. The core breeding season for this region has drawn to a close and we have a short window to draw breath before we go into our usual pattern of rescues over the next few months.
June and July brought us 73 patients including 30 parrots, 11 raptors, 13 forest birds and 8 members of the toucan family. We made 15 releases over those two months, almost all of those were forest birds and toucans whose rehabilitation is much shorter than any others. We don’t release any rehab parrots during breeding season as hormonal tension tends to be high. September is a great month for those releases, so watch this space!
In total we raised 48 baby parrots this season, 11 of which were endangered yellow-headed Amazon chicks (Amazona oratrix belizensis) removed from nests at-risk from poaching or overcrowding. After we have released any of our long-term rehab parrots that are ready for freedom, we’ll introduce these young red-loreds and white-fronts to the remaining birds in the larger aviaries.
In the meantime, parrots released at BBR in previous years have been extremely busy. We have counted at least 12 wild-hatched baby parrots around the property, a much greater number than we have ever seen. We hear so many more, and the families of disbursed parrots flying over have definitely increased. This is the definition of success. Birds that would have otherwise perished in cages are living and breeding in the wild!
GlobalGiving is holding a Little By Little week from 18 to 22 September, where donations up to $50 per unique donor are guaranteed to be matched at 50% making every single dollar go so much further. Please share this report and our social media posts to help us to reach more potential donors. Believe me, every donation is significant. Every donation makes a difference!
We cannot stress strongly enough how our success is entirely down to your generosity and support. We quite literally cannot help them without you. We receive no government or grant funding. Our ability to operate is entirely down to you.
These second-chance birds and their offspring are your success and reward. They owe you their lives, and we cannot thank you enough for that gift.
With profound gratitude
Nikki & all at BBR
We can’t believe that half of the year is gone already. We joke that the summer solstice leads us gently downhill to Christmas, but it’s perfectly true. Where on earth does it go?
This last 3 months brought us 104 patients of 41 different species, including 42 parrots, 16 raptors, 30 song/forest birds and 4 gorgeous members of the toucan family. Inevitably, our fuel costs and time spent in the vehicle increases at this time of year, just as we need to be spending more time with the babies at the centre. We definitely need to clone ourselves!
The rains finally broke through in late June giving much-needed respite from the heat and the dry conditions. Seeing the baby parrots take their first rain-bath is one of our many delights at this time of year. Most of our baby parrots are now outside in the weaning enclosures, although traditionally we get a second wave of chicks in July, so we shall see what the month brings us. The indoor nursery spaces are starting to fill with older parrots that were surrendered or confiscated, as well as a few escaped 'pets' found wandering. We like to observe these more fragile personalities for a little while before we begin to introduce them to other parrots.
You’ve probably already heard, but GlobalGiving are having a bonus day on Wednesday July 12th where donations over $100 are matched at 30%, over $500 at 40% and over $750 at 50%. We will be posting regularly on social media throughout the day, so if you have the chance to share a couple of our posts, it will certainly help us to reach more potential donors that day.
We keep saying it, but we literally couldn’t help these birds without you. Every time we see one of the many free-flying released birds around the Centre, we know it’s entirely due to your generosity that they have been given this incredible second chance.
Thank you so much as always for your continued support. You’re amazing!
The first quarter of 2023 has gone by so quickly. I can’t believe it’s Easter already!
During this period we took in 55 new patients of 27 different species, which is average for this slower time of year. They included 15 raptors, 13 water birds and 8 parrots.
It's usually a quieter period for releases too, even so 13 birds found their way to freedom. 145 of our rehab cases are parrots undergoing long-term rehabilitation. Their moulting season is still a month or two away, which means we tend to make the majority of our parrot releases in the 3rd quarter of the year after they get their healthy new (and unclipped) feathers.
The donations you so generously give go toward the ever-increasing costs of food, medical care and transportation, plus wages for our skilled and loyal staff who are pivotal to the success of our rehabilitation programmes. We are caring for a total of 163 birds as we head into the baby season once more, and as always we appreciate your help more than we can say. Your donations, membership purchases and support sustains our operations throughout the year and we quite literally couldn’t do what we do without our GlobalGiving family.
Just a quick reminder too that all this week (3 to 7 April) GlobalGiving are contributing a 50% match to all unique donations up to $50, making your contribution even more valuable.
Thank you so much as always for your incredible generosity, and wishing you and yours a pleasant and peaceful Easter period.
With the very warmest regards
Nikki & the BBR Team
Links:
It’s coming up to the end of the year and we will shortly be sending out our round-up of achievements through the newsletters and social media. So far this year, we’ve been able to help over 250 birds; almost a third of which were parrots rescued from the illegal pet trade. The latter half of the year has been quieter than usual, which we put down to the consistently wet weather keeping potential rescuers indoors. Apparently our region is under a La Nina event, bringing endless rainstorms. We prefer the wet weather to the dry and fires, but there is a happy medium.
During this period we had the joy of making 90 releases. 41 were parrots rescued from the illegal pet trade, plus 16 songbirds, 7 raptors, 8 water-birds and 12 toucans, all given a second chance of freedom. We are currently caring for 145 birds, most of them parrots undergoing their lengthy rehabilitation for re-wildling.
Ahead of our annual round-up, we especially wanted to thank you so much for your amazing assistance lately. We’re very aware we have been leaning on you for hurricane repairs, for Giving Tuesday and other GlobalGiving matching fund days. But you came through as you always do! And we honestly couldn’t do what we do without you - that is no exaggeration. Your generosity during this Giving Season sets us up for the start of the New Year and our preparations for the next baby season. You’re a massive part of what enables Belize Bird Rescue to continue helping the birds in need in Belize and we can’t thank you enough for your continued support.
Wishing you the very happiest of Holiday Seasons
Warmest regards
Nikki and the BBR Team
Baby season is finally slowing down. The last of the forest birds are out and about under our watchful eye, and all of the parrots are in outdoor aviaries learning to be part of a flock. Some of them still require their warm porridge in the evening, but otherwise we think it’s safe to breathe a big sigh of relief and contentment.
The last 6 weeks brought us 71 more patients including 27 parrots and 27 forest birds. We also raised and released 7 toucans which was something of a record for BBR in one season.
The BBR truck travelled over 6000 miles during this period and we are so grateful to our rescue network for their generous donation of time and resources to assist with transportation, especially with ever-increasing gas prices.
We had quite a few difficult medical cases through this period, and Dr Philip Deshield at Animal Medical Centre performed wonders. We are very thankful to have such an accomplished avian vet in Belize and there are many birds flying free that I am sure are grateful too!
As always, your generosity is the mainstay of our fundraising efforts. Without our GlobalGiving family, quite frankly I don’t know what we would do. We appreciate that there are much greater global concerns than our beautiful rescue, and the knock-on effect is having repercussions for everyone in some way or another, which makes your continued support and loyalty all the more heart-warming.
Thank you so much for everything you do, and know that so many little lives have been saved thanks to your generosity. Please continue to share our posts, blogs and newsletters, as every share has the potential to reach more donors and supporters. And if you fancy treating yourself or a loved-one to an exclusive gift, the wonderful people at Float.org have designed an exclusive baby-season shirt for us, only available from 15th to 21st of August. Visit the link below for details.
We can’t do what we do without you! Thank you.
Nikki & the BBR Team
Links:
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