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242 Hand-Rearing Birds

and, while the bird is out of the burrow area, spray the burrow and the substrate. Let the area dry
and then place the bird back into its pen.

Injuries

SOS rarely receives very young shearwaters with injuries. However, as with most bird species, leg
fractures can be splinted relatively easily and bones heal rapidly when very young. Wings are more
problematic, as they will need to heal so that the bird will be able to fly once they fledge. Many of
these birds must make immediate post‐fledging migrations to their feeding grounds of hundreds, if
not thousands, of kilometers and, if they cannot make it, they will perish. In addition to this, shear-
waters are named for the dynamic soaring they use to traverse these distances. These facts should be
kept under consideration when deciding to take on the care of a bird that will take several months to
raise to fledging only to find that the wing has not healed sufficiently for the bird to be able to fly.
Grounded fledglings can come into care with a variety of injuries resulting from a truncated
flight to the sea. Impact injuries are the most common. Head trauma in a Newell’s Shearwater is
extremely problematic and they do not tend to recover well enough for release. Hawaiian Petrels,
on the other hand, can and have recovered well from head trauma. Missing feathers are also a
problem with these birds, as when they hit power lines and other stationary objects, they can often
remove a swath of body feathers from the head or neck areas. These birds do not re‐grow feathers
quickly and a decision must be made whether to release “as is.” Often, they are waterproof in the
conditioning pools even with a number of contour feathers missing. However, water pressure
when diving to depths will exacerbate any leakage caused by imperfections in the feathers. This
decision should include consideration of the natural history and feeding strategy of the species. We
know that an adult Hawaiian Petrel, a primarily surface‐feeding species, can survive with a large
patch of feathers missing from its head. However, birds that dive deep for prey, such as Newell’s
Shearwaters, may not be able to overcome such a handicap.

Emaciation/Failure to Thrive
This is seen when chicks have either become separated from their natal burrow, such as falling/
rolling down a hill, or when parents have been killed or have abandoned the breeding attempt. Dog
and cat predation is very prevalent in Hawaii and there has been wholesale slaughter of adults at
colonies. A very young chick can bounce back from a period of poor or no nutrition relatively eas-
ily. The older they are and the longer away from parental support, the farther behind the growth
curve and the more catching up they need to do. Once the feathers start growing, the periods of
poor nutrition can be seen by way of fault/stress bars. There is evidence that when food becomes
scarce, the chicks put all of their energy into growing their flight feathers so that they can leave the
nest (David Hyrenbach, pers. comm.). The most problematic situation is when chicks are received
that have obviously attempted to fledge prematurely from desperation. They are often less than
half the weight that they should be at the time of fledging and have no fat reserves and little to no
muscle. Blood values (PCV and TP) in these chicks will invariably be normal or near normal,
which is astounding in an animal that is so obviously starving and undernourished. These chicks
should be closely monitored for problems arising from long‐term nutritional deprivation, as they
can develop issues with digestion or have metabolic problems. Feathers can also have long‐term
damage in the form of stress/fault bars. Finally, since these birds will be in care for much longer in
order to build them back up to a condition that is favorable to their survival, their natural migra-
tion patterns must be taken into consideration.