Blue Ridge Wildlife Center Patient of the Week: American Woodcock

What’s more indicative of Spring on the way—a groundhog not seeing their shadow, or the arrival of migrating woodcocks?

This American Woodcock was brought to us after the finder spotted the bird down and not flying in downtown Washington D.C. On exam, our staff found damage to the left eye and suspect a shoulder injury, as well as blood in the mouth and increased respiratory effort—injuries that we often see from window strikes.

This patient is receiving pain medications and anti-inflammatories while resting in a supplemental oxygen enclosure in our isolation area as we await HPAI (avian influenza) test results.

Windows and light pollution are a major issue for migrating birds like woodcocks, warblers, and many others.

Lights at night reflecting off windows can confuse birds into thinking they can fly into the reflected sky or trees they see, causing collisions and injury.

Reflected lights also create “traps” where birds can’t reorient themselves out, exhausting birds who are often already relying on limited energy to make their long journey from their wintering grounds.

As we get closer to Spring, more and more birds will be moving northward. Help them by making your windows bird-safe! You can do this by:

• Disrupting the reflections on the outside of your windows with decals, window paint, hanging cord, or other methods that leave no more than 2″ of space between decals, paint, etc.
• Turn off outside lights when they’re not actively necessary.
• And if you find any birds you suspect hit a window, get them contained and to a rehabilitator ASAP—do NOT release or let them fly off if possible!

Click here to learn more about window collision prevention methods.

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