Our 1000th Patient This Year

We're thrilled to announce the launch of Avian Haven's new website. Whether you're a first-time visitor or a longtime supporter, we hope you'll find it clear, welcoming, and easy to navigate — with everything you need to learn about our work, get involved, and support the birds in our care.

Be sure to check out our new blog, where you can read past editions of this newsletter, patient stories, and updates from the field. If you've ever wanted to share one of these newsletters with a friend or look back at an earlier issue, now you can.

👉 Visit us at avianhaven.org

1000th Patient This Year

This week, Avian Haven will cross a milestone: our 1,000th patient of 2026. That number represents a thousand birds found injured, orphaned, or ill — and a thousand decisions by people across Maine to stop, pick up the phone, and ask for help.

As of this writing, 238 patients are in our care, and we have worked with 141 species this year. We’re feeding 60,000 mealworms, among other things, to our patients per week. Roughly half are baby birds — nestlings and fledglings who arrived orphaned after storms downed trees, human activity disrupted nests, or nature simply dealt a hard hand. The other half are injured and ill adults, each with their own story of survival.

Every single one of them came to us because someone cared enough to make a call.

Stories from Last Week

A Second Chance for a Barred Owl

Last week, our Consulting Veterinarian Dr. Avery Berkowitz performed surgery on a Barred Owl in our care — a delicate procedure to address a wing injury that, without intervention, would have ended this bird's life in the wild. Thanks to their skilled hands and our rehabilitation team's around-the-clock care, this owl now has a real chance at flight again.

This is what we do here: we give birds the chance they would not have otherwise.

A Loon with a Hook in Its Throat

A Common Loon arrived last week with a fishing hook lodged in its throat. Loons are remarkable birds — diving specialists who can disappear beneath the surface of a lake and emerge far away. But no loon can out swim an injury like this. We transferred the Loon to Maine Wildlife Rehabilitation where Dr. Berkowitz removed the hook, and this bird is now recovering with the goal of returning it to Maine's lakes.

Three Tiny Woodpeckers, Rescued from a Fallen Tree

Sometimes a rescue requires a little ingenuity. When three Downy Woodpecker nestlings were found inside the trunk of a downed tree, the only way to reach them safely was to carefully saw open the wood itself. Our team did exactly that.

All three babies are thriving.

Released Last Week

Every release is a celebration — proof that what we do works. Last week alone, we returned the following birds to the wild:

Two Scarlet Tanagers — among the most brilliantly colored birds in Maine, the males a flash of red and black against the season's lush green canopy. Several Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. A Northern Parula, an Ovenbird, a Common Loon, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, an American Goldfinch, a Black-and-white Warbler, an American Woodcock, a Black-Crowned Night Heron, and more — along with dozens of fledglings who spent their last days with us learning what their wings were for, and this week finally got to use them.

They came to us broken. They left on their own wings.

The Phone Keeps Ringing

We’ve had nearly 800 calls so far in June — from people who found an injured bird, an orphaned nestling, or weren't sure what they were looking at but knew they needed to help. Behind every call is a bird with a chance.

If you ever find a bird in distress, please don't hesitate. Call us at (207) 382-6761. Our network of volunteer transporters spans the entire state of Maine — there is someone near you ready to help bring that bird to us.

Will You Help Us Keep Going?

Behind every surgery, every baby bird fed every hour, every release — there is a team of dedicated staff, interns, and volunteers. And behind them, there are donors like you.

Avian Haven accepts no government funding and charges nothing for the care we provide. We are here because of the people who believe, as we do, that Maine's wild birds deserve a fighting chance.

Your gift — of any size — keeps our doors open, our staff supported, and our patients on the path to release.