Damaged Wild Birds Find Rescue, Rehab Clinic in New York. Bloomberg News

Wildlife rehabilitator Rita McMahon has a face-to-face with a kestrel at her Upper West Side apartment in New York City. For years, McMahon has used her apartment as a recovery ward for injured and sick wildlife. Photographer: Mike Di Paola/Bloomberg  Bloomberg News. By Mike Di Paola:

The second time I met Rita McMahon, she was in her new rescue center for injured wildlife on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

“It’s raining birds today. We’ve had about a dozen brought in,” McMahon said, bringing the clinic’s total to “at least 70 at the moment.”
She was feeding a tiny, mite-ridden starling with a plastic syringe. Volunteers learning how to handle injured birds looked over her shoulder.
When the Wild Bird Fund opened last month, it was the city’s first wildlife rehabilitation center. This was good news for McMahon, because when we initially met, she had been running the operation for 10 years out of her brownstone apartment, a space shared with husband, son and a few dozen injured or sick birds.
McMahon teamed up with Karen Heidgerd, administrator of the nearby Animal General, to start their own facility. McMahon herself is a retired television consultant, but she also is licensed to rehabilitate wild birds.
“We want to be the central facility for New York City for the care of injured wildlife,” Heidgerd said. “That includes animals that come into our space that don’t belong here, like foxes and deer.”
Injured and ill animals, especially birds, are brought in by people who find them on city sidewalks or upstate highways... Read here...