Education

WHANGAREI NATIVE BIRD RECOVERY

Education

Visit Our Education Centre

We have at least 5000 school children visit the Centre each year. The program that we offer here at the Centre is a hands on one where children often have the opportunity to see and touch a live Kiwi (Snoopy).

This has a huge impact on the children and is an experience that is not easily forgotten.

The children also spend time in the education room learning about the dangers of the types of traps that caused Snoopy to loose his leg. Once they know what these traps look like they know to avoid them if they come across one in the bush and to tell an adult. Robert shows them the speed and power of these traps by setting one off using a thick roll of news paper. The children often get such a fright when the trap goes off that they jump clear off the floor where they are sitting.

There are also many mounted birds to see and photographs of many other birds that have been in at the Centre since it started. This stimulates good question and answer sessions that lead into discussions on environmental issues.

The Centre believes strongly that we have a responsibility to educate the next generation of New Zealanders about the delicate balance of our environment. We believe that everyone must learn that our impact is disrupting this balance and that we all have a responsibility to take greater care to create less impact and work with the environment rather than just consuming.

Contact us to arrange a visit from your school.

You can also download this form to arrange a visit.

FAQ

All birds require specialist care to look after. Ultimately a wild bird is happiest back in the wild. If the bird is injured, you should get the bird to the Native Bird Recovery Centre as soon as possible.

To handle native and endemic birds the Department of Conservation (DOC) requires the Centre to hold permits, it is illegal to hold native birds without a DOC permit.

It is best to get the bird to the Centre immediately or as soon as you are able. Please note that we are unable to collect birds due to the large numbers we get through our centre and rely on the public to drop them to us.

If you find some young birds, they may not be lost. Mum and Dad birds might just have left them for a while to get them some food. You should leave them alone, watch to see if the parent bird comes back to feed the chick. Help a young bird if you notice any of the following;

If the parents do not come back to feed the chick
If a nestling has fallen from the nest and you know for certain which nest it came from, try putting it back (without putting yourself at risk)
If you spot a fledgling on the ground watch from a distance as the parents may be close by. If you are worried about the safety of the fledgling, then put it in the middle of a thick bush as high as possible, eg. a high hedge or a clump of bamboo.
If after the above steps are taken and you consider the chick or fledgling to be orphaned, or likely to get taken by cats and /or dogs in the area, please bring it to the Centre.

Rescue a bird if:

If you can catch a bird in the wild then it is sick and it needs your help.

An injury is obvious
The bird is having trouble standing or flying
One or both of its legs are dragging
The beak is damaged
A baby or fledgling is orphaned
It is trapped or entangled and cannot free itself
It is has some oil or chemical substance on it
It has hit a window or been hit by a car
The bird is unconscious or cannot move
The bird has difficulty breathing – gasping for air

Most of the time, a bird just needs a safe quiet place. So the best thing you can do is to put the bird in a cardboard box on a towel over a warm water bottle, and place the box somewhere dark and quiet for a while. Get in touch with us to let us know what’s going on.

Don’t try to spoon-feed the bird, as this can do more harm to the bird than good.

It varies, but on average birds at the recovery centre tend to stay about two weeks. Some birds stay for a shorter period, while some stay for a much longer period — even two years! We aim to return a bird back to it’s natural habitat as soon as it is well enough.