Injured birds moved to temporary home in Ogden

OGDEN — Injured birds being nursed back to health have a new, temporary home in Ogden.

Volunteers with the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of northern Utah spent much of Sunday moving cages and containers full of birds to a former veterinary clinic.

Once part of the Ogden Nature Center, budget shortfalls forced the rehab center to become its own entity earlier this year. It was facing a June 30 deadline to relocate.

The new digs are roomier than the shed that once housed the rehab program at the nature center. Veterinarian Kathyrn Penrod is allowing the group to use her former offices rent-free until they can find a new home or the building is sold.

It has enough room to keep the songbirds separated from the raptors.

"It will at least get us through the heavy season," said DaLynn Erickson, the group's executive director and only paid employee.

Birds hatch in the spring and summer, which means more work for Erickson and volunteers who work to keep injured and baby birds fed.

Last year, more than 1,500 birds were brought to the center. Of those, 940 were rehabilitated and released into the wild. Those that can't survive on their own are euthanized.

Some worried that many more of the birds at the rehab center would have to be euthanized if a new home couldn't be found. But the veterinary office a few miles away from the Ogden Nature Center is offering some temporary relief.

On Sunday, about 30 volunteers helped move the birds. They had to be careful not to dramatically disrupt schedules for some songbirds that require hand-feeding every 30 minutes or a hummingbird with a sprained wing that gets food every 10 minutes.

"We've got some screamers!" board member Stacie Peck said at one point over the noise coming from a room full of songbirds. "We've got some hungry babies here!"

As the birds settle in, supporters are working to make sure the rehab center survives. It's now being organized as a nonprofit and its chairman, Buz Marthaler, said they hope to eventually find a permanent home.

They included the word "wildlife" in their name in the hopes that someday they'll have room to treat injured squirrels, rabbits and other small animals.

"We hope to expand to be a first-class wildlife rehabilitation center," Erickson said.