A wildlife centre in Co Kildare is preparing for an increase in abandoned birds being brought to its so-called 'baby bird room' due to orphan season.
The season runs from April to September when offspring are born and "for one reason or another, they might become orphans", Kildare Wildlife Rescue Training and Engagement Officer Petra Fransas said.
KWR has a designated room fitted with incubators to keep the birds warm while they are cared for.
"It's starting to get really busy in there at the moment," Ms Fransas said, adding "we have a few robins, we have a magpie, we have a couple of sparrows in there as well".
"That will fill up as we go through the months and it will also change as well depending on what's coming in," she said.
"The corvids will start coming in and then later in the summer, we’ll get the gulls coming in," she added.
The centre is currently recruiting and training volunteers who will work primarily as baby bird feeders.
An onsite trainer at the centre said it "does get quite hectic".
"You need more than one person. We just need extra volunteers, so we don't take away from the rest of the centre because we have the normal day-to-day, the badgers and the foxes and the swans," Anne Quigley said.
"If we get pulled into the baby bird room, then it is very difficult to monitor and take care of everything going on at the rest of the centre," she added.
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Garden birds are given a paste made from insects, cat nuts and nutrients, and also need to be fed every 20 minutes - from dawn to dusk.
"It's hard work and you have to encourage them to eat because they’re waiting for mam, who isn’t there anymore," volunteer Nyree Searle said.
Ms Searle, who joined KWR last year to help clean birds caught in an oil spill off the Wicklow and Wexford coasts, said she has always been interested in caring for animals.
"As a teenager I used to volunteer in a veterinary hospital and I used to take home all the waifs and strays that were going to be put down," she said.
"So it started young. My whole life I’ve taken them in at home but I’m learning how to feed them properly now of course," she added.
Baby birds will spend between four and six weeks at KWR before being released back into the wild.
Birds that progress to the outdoor area are cared for by Brendan Maxwell.
"It's such a nice place to work," he said. "I love being outdoors because it’s so nice and peaceful. I love listening to the birds singing."
Among other things, he is responsible for feeding the waterfowl and swans.
"I really enjoy coming here and seeing all the animals get looked after. Everyone here loves animals and loves helping them," said Mr Maxwell.
If a baby bird or any wild animal is found, KRW advises that a video of the animal be sent to the centre’s helpdesk.
This, it said, is so the animal can be identified, the care it requires can be conveyed and arrangements for its collection can be made, if needed.
"My first advice would be to just ask for advice," Ms Fransas said.
"Obviously if a nestling or a fledgling, or any animal, if they’re injured then they will need to come into care," she said.
Ms Fransas said if somebody finds an uninjured fledging that does not require care, but "feel that it is exposed on the ground, you can absolutely lift it up onto higher ground".
"So maybe pop it up on a branch," she said, adding "it’s not like the human smell will transfer to the bird".
However human interactions with wildlife should be kept to a minimum, Ms Fransas said.
She said: "With all wild animals, we want to keep our interactions as little as possible," she said.
"They are very different to domestic animals, they are not comforted by our presence, they are not comforted by us talking to them, petting them, it would actually cause them much more stress.
"They won’t look stressed but they will be stressed."
KWR responded to more than 8,800 reports of wildlife casualties last year and admitted 3,975 animals to its hospital.
It is a 42% increase on 2023 figures, which the centre said is likely down to more awareness about what it does.
