(upbeat percussion music) - a bird in new york citydoesn't have it easy. whether it's flying into a building, a car, a bicycle, dogs, pollution, lead poisoning. this is not nature's natural course. we have interfered with it. my name is rita mcmahon,
and i'm the co-founder anddirector of the wild bird fund. new york city's one and onlywildlife rehabilitation center. we take in birds that anyone has found, and we do our best to make it whole, so that it can go back to the wild. the atmosphere at the wildbird fund is something of a three-ring circus. there's the iso room, the waterfowl room, reception area, and downstairsis a whole 'nother thing.
there are couple ofhundred birds down there. they may be flying around in the air as people are scurrying around. cleaning the cages, givingthem meds, and feeding them. we deal with 135 different species, this past week we had acanada goose, seven kestrels, a rowdy bunch of juvenile herring gulls. this year, 2016, we willtreat well over 4,000 birds. by being in new york citywhere the animal is found,
we are able to save many more animals. they would die before theycould get help in another state or another county. people can come to you via subway or bus and they can get the animal to you faster. it's exciting, you neverreally know who's gonna walk through that door, or whatthey're holding in that box. - i was at my store and i saw the pigeon. i saw that he was like bleedingon the floor like pretty bad.
i didn't even know thatthey took in pigeons. - [rita] it's okay, it's okay. (gentle piano music) any animal that is pickedup is in really bad shape. 50% will die or are euthanized. if we can reduce the suffering,that's a good thing too. but 50% go free. when the bird's better, you try to return it to where it came.
if it's an adult bird, itmight have family, friends, it knows where to live. the migratory birds, they'rejust passing through, you're really just trying to put them in a safe place so that they can continue their journey.