Hand-rearing orphaned baby birds
Clinical care and hand-rearing orphaned baby bird rescues.
Green Bay, Auckland
Each spring-summer, BirdCare's nursery grows to nurture hundreds of orphaned baby bird rescues. From tiny hatchlings that had fallen from nests, wobbly walkers straying from parents, to numerous predator interactions, our renowned nursery programme gives these tiny taonga the best chance to make it back out to the big wide world!
Hospital Manager Catriona laughs about becoming "surrogate parents," while avoiding habituation to humans... "We want our nursery graduates to learn to thrive independently, for return to native ecosystems."
Each rescue receives daily health checks, temperature and hydration support, in environmentally-enriched enclosures, sometimes antibiotics and pain relief.
Thank you for helping our clinical staff, and dedicated volunteers raise these tiny taonga.
About us
BirdCare Aotearoa is a bird hospital and rehabilitation centre, providing expert care and rehabilitation for sick, injured, and orphaned native and endemic species. Our compassionate services extend to public rescuers, and in training upcoming vet talent!
Use of funds
$2 pair of disposable gloves- protecting tiny feathers.
$10 medication (e.g., antibiotics and painrelief)
$20 fluid therapy- happy, hydrated and warm inside dedicated incubators
$60 species-specific bird feeds, for a day.
Other page links
Latest update
Mystery duckling- potential Pateke? 1 October 2026
Our nursery is quickly filling up with orphaned chicks. On the 22 Sept we admitted this 29 gram cutie, rescued from Blockhouse bay. It's fully brown down feathers suggest it may be a Pāteke Brown teal- one of NZ's rarest ducklings!
It is growing well, next door to enclosures of orphaned Pūtangitangi Paradise shelducks (also endemic). Soon, as more mature feathers develop, we will be able to confirm its identity. Stay tuned for their progress in our nursery.
Photocredit: volunteer Sherry
Latest donations
Thank you so much Jason! Through this nursery programme, we look forward to returning the next generation of healthy birds, to thrive in their native habitats.
Thank you so much Tracey for your support and aroha. With the recent gusts of wind, we are admitting numerous chicks who have fallen from their nests. Thanks for supporting our nursery, to raise these tiny cuties.
Thank you so much Jill. Our nursery is quickly filling up with adorable, but vulnerable little orphan chicks. And right now- your support is helping to keep them fed, clean, and warm. <3
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