Chicago Gets a New Bird Hospital

By Rachelle Bowden in Miscellaneous on Mar 22, 2006 3:35PM

Oh, what to do with that ol' Miegs Field airport terminal ... and what to do with all those injured, urban birdies around the city? How 'bout this? Convert part of that building on Northerly Island into a bird hospital. Bingo!

The hospital will be run by the Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and will be run as a satellite location to its primary location in Barrington. The new hospital will treat wild birds (birds of prey, songbirds) that are injured in accidents like flying into high-rise building windows and such. The most common injury to urban birds is head trauma and the most injured species are warblers and sparrows.

Flint Creek believes that the Northerly Island location will provide a convenient downtown location that will allow more birds to get medical care earlier, thus improving their chances of survival. But then they also say that they only accept animals by appointment and that people with injured birds should call (847) 602-0628. As if we'd have that number handy with me if we were walking in the Loop and saw an injured bird ... It seems to us that the way to really save some birds would be to be open and to allow walk-ins. Maybe they don't have enough coin to staff an office all day. Who knows?

The Chicago Park District is donating the space on Northerly, and the hospital plans to open early next month.

Image via panphoto