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Helping Birds: What To Do After a Fire
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The dramatic images in the news of rampant bushfires in Australia are heartbreaking. Firefighters from Australia and around the world are working overtime to quench the flames in an attempt to save peoples homes and lives, and caringly rescue injured wildlife they find. Food for surviving wildlife is being airdropped to the wastelands left by the fires, and residents are providing food and water in their yards and in fire stricken areas to help. Currently the estimate is that over a billion animals and birds have been killed in these fires, and the damage to some critical habitats has been so devastating that entire species of birds and wildlife may have become threatened, endangered or even worse as a result of loss of life and habitat.
Fires of greater than normal intensities and frequency are not peculiar to Australia, and many people who are in these areas are at a loss as to what they can do to help wildlife and birds after a fire has struck. A comprehensive list of how you can help birds and wildlife after a fire, through rescuing as well as providing for their needs, and restoring habitat, has been created by our friends at BirdLife Australia. No matter where you live, this guide has some excellent and practical ideas for any area affected by fire. We can all help in an emergency with practical aid to birds and other wildlife, so please consider these helpful ideas if you find birds requiring aid in an emergency situation.
If you want to know more about the wildlife situation in Australia, read this article from The Guardian which highlights the wildlife most affected. Birds like Regents Honeyeater and Glossy Black Cockatoo – both of which had small populations already – are especially hard hit, and iconic Australian wet forest birds like Lyrebirds were unexpectedly affected. But there are other mammals which have had equally devastating fire impacts, and article has information on these animals as well.
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