It all started on April Fools day, 2004. We went to the act of sale on our house. The next day I found a naked little blob of a bird outside. I had no clue what kind of bird it was, and everyone I showed the bird to. Then my husband Will went to Walmart and came back telling me it's a starling, he saw photos in a bird book they had. So I looked up Starlings online. But my bird was grey, starlings are black with white "stars", and then I found Starling Talk. That confirmed that I had a juvenile starling, and I joined the message board. I couldn't have found a better place, thanks to Starling Talk, I was able to put my starling on the proper diet and give her the proper care and I fell in love with my starling and wanted more. Then we got a baby duck and hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans a couple of months later.
Before we evacuated, I found the best avian vet Starling Talk since Jackie (she owns Starling Talk) had a list of avian vets in different states and cities. He was listed as a local vet that I could trust to bring my starling to. After hurricane Katrina, we lived in Meridian, MS and I guess that's when we decided to start doing rehab work. Jackie emailed me and said there were starlings close to us that needed a new home. So while living in Meridian, we adopted 3 more starlings. When we moved back to New Orleans, it just took off from there. I found a baby duck about to be eaten by a seagull, took the baby home to die in peace, and he didn't. I was talking with my avian vet, Dr. Gregory Rich one day and told him I wanted to start rehabilitating and he sent me to Clearwater Wildlife Sanctuary, where we got a lot of our training. We have rehabilitated and also adopted a number of birds, ducks and chickens.
Rehabilitating has been the most rewarding, fulfilling and most enjoyable thing I have ever done. Will shares my passion for our feathered friends.
And it all started with one tiny baby starling, Malutka. She is now 5 1/2 years old.
If you find a baby bird, join the Starling Talk message board. Even if your bird is not a starling, there are a number of rehabilitators there that can help you ID your bird and stear you in the proper direction on what to do.
If you find a baby pigeon, Pigeon Talk is a wonderful site for help and advice.
I will post a link for duck rescue as soon as I find the link.
I will be more than happy to answer any question, or help you as well if you email me at cryssie@bellsouth.net
