About Wild Nest Bird Rehab
Saving the Planet, One Bird at a Time
Mission: To Rehabilitate and Release Songbirds and Preserve and Protect All Birds
Found on every continent, across every ocean, and in every imaginable ecosystem, birds are vital to the health of our planet. The environmental services they provide include pest control, pollination, seed dispersal, clean-up services, and more, balancing our ecosystems and saving us billions of dollars each year. Accessible to everyone, songbirds offer a ready way to enjoy wildlife and connect with nature. We need only to look out our window or step outside to enjoy their beautiful songs, vibrant colors, and fascinating behaviors.
Tragically, according to the world’s leading scientific journals, North America has lost nearly three billion birds in the past fifty years. In one short generation, bird populations have declined nearly 30% (more than 1 in 4 birds), primarily as a result of human-caused habitat loss, climate change, window strikes, pesticides, free-roaming cats, fireworks, and other threats. These losses include all songbirds, not just threatened species. and include Georgia’s state bird, the Brown Thrasher, whose populations have declined by more than 40%. These losses are a harbinger of environmental challenges that will impact us as well.
Wild Nest Bird Rehabilitation strives to mitigate these losses by helping every bird we can, primarily through rehabilitating sick and injured songbirds, as well as orphaned baby birds, for release back to the wild. In addition, we educate the public about bird conservation and simple actions they can take to help preserve and protect all birds.
History
Wild Nest Bird Rehabilitation was created out of passion and necessity. Currently, Wild Nest is the only 501(c)(3) nonprofit rehabilitation facility dedicated to songbirds in Georgia, and fewer than a dozen state- and federally-permitted private bird rehabilitators practice in the state, usually working in their homes and paying expenses out of pocket. Wild Nest’s beginnings were much the same. For several years, Wild Nest co-founder and Licensed Rehabilitator Nancy Eilen cared for hundreds of wild birds in her home. In early 2021, Nancy co-founded Wild Nest Bird Rehab, Inc. with Joy Carter, as a non-profit organization to help birds in metro Atlanta and beyond. With a flock of committed volunteers, Wild Nest endeavors to rehabilitate and release songbirds in need and to preserve and protect all birds through educating the public about what we can all do to reduce threats to birds and create a safer, healthier world for all living beings.
