Wild Bird Rescue 101 (2021)

Thank you for dropping in! Our dream is to teach people like yourself, who want to help an injured bird not only survive but also thrive in your care and one day be released back into the wild where it belongs.

You are about to learn the essential skills and knowledge to start rescuing and caring for wild birds immediately. Also, this course will provide you with a more in-depth understanding of the process and complications of wild bird rehabilitation.

Do You Want to Help Sick or Injured Birds?

  • Have you ever found an injured bird and not known how to help?

  • Would you like to develop your skills in wild bird rescue and rehabilitation?

  • Do you know the essential first aid techniques for injured or sick birds?

  • Do You know how to assess a damaged wing and apply the correct bandage?

  • Can you calculate and administer the correct fluids to save a bird's life?

  • Do you know how to transport a sick bird safely and effectively?

  • Learn the essential skills for the initial rescue
    and care for any bird in need.

Meet your tutors

Dr. Janelle Ward
Wildlife Veterinarian

Dr. Ward is a New Zealand-based vet with a master’s degree in wildlife health and is a member of the Australian & NZ College of Veterinary Scientists (ANZCVS) in Avian Health. Her master’s thesis investigated muscle damage during capture of wild birds.

Janelle has worked in all aspects of wildlife health since 2007, including avian medicine, wildlife disease, oiled wildlife response, pathology and conservation. She has a keen interest in wildlife rehabilitation and is on the committee for the national wildlife rehabilitation network (WReNNZ). She provided technical advice for the NZ Department of Conservation for over 5 years and currently is the Biodiversity Team Leader at New Zealand’s largest fenced ecosanctuary.

Janelle also has a Certificate in Adult and Tertiary Education and has 3 years of tertiary teaching experience in animal care and vet nursing.
Dr Janelle Ward holds a juvenile takahe

Mandy Robertson
Wildlife Rehabilitator

Mandy began rehabilitating birds in 2003 and has a wealth of experience in raising and caring for a huge range of wild bird species. She has helped to hatch and raise threatened species for the NZ Department of Conservation for release to the wild. She founded the Wild Bird Care Charitable Trust, that supported her work in the rehabilitation centre. Mandy also volunteered for many years on the committee of the Wildlife Rehabilitators Network of NZ, helping to raise their profile and designed their website.

Mandy always worked to a very high standard with her dedicated bird treatment room at her rehabilitation centre, and over the years developed aviary designs for different species. Mandy believes that people should no longer need to learn from trial and error when it comes to wild bird rescue and care.

Mandy and the WBCCT helped to create education and training programmes and provided support materials for wildlife rehabilitators. Mandy loves to create educational materials that people find practical and easy to use.
You can help sick or injured birds in a variety of ways. You could help with the rescue or collection and transport of birds, you could be a vet nurse that helps handle and administer treatments or a vet that diagnoses and treats their injuries. Or you could become a fulltime wildlife rehabilitator – the choice is yours. But no matter what you choose, you need the right skills and techniques to help support birds: they are unique in their needs.

Learn Bird Care is all about helping you to get started so that the next time your cat delivers you a sparrow, or you find a bird in desperate need of your help…you will know what to do! We want you to develop the confidence to help a bird to heal and experience the joy of releasing a bird back into the wild where it belongs.

Check Out the New Course Content for Wild Bird Rescue 101 (2021)!

We have responded to our students feedback and actively improved the course to give you even greater value and resources. Here are some of the changes:

  • Each section now has a module outline with key learning objectives

  • Streamlined presentation format

  • More photos!

  • Expanded resources on capture and handling

  • Expanded section on follow up care and nutrition

  • A new wing bandaging technique!

  • And more!

  • All this for just NZ$97!

  • We keep our prices low to help you to help the birds.

WILD BIRD RESCUE 101

This online course will help you develop the necessary skills to successfully care for wildlife in need. You'll learn...

  • The step-by-step processes for capture, handling, transport and first aid for sick, injured or abandoned wild birds

  • How to decide when to rescue a bird by using our visual flowcharts

  • Skills and tips for the safe handling of any bird species

  • The legal requirements and steps to become a wildlife rehabilitator

  • How to perform a complete physical examination of a bird

  • The correct process to apply wing and leg bandages

  • Step-by-step instructions on how to tube feed a bird

  • The benefits and limitations of tube feeding a bird

  • Essential first aid instructions to save the life of a bird

You Can Keep Asking "HOW CAN I HELP?"
Or You Can Take Action

COURSE OVERVIEW

    1. Welcome

    2. How to navigate your course

    3. Course Outline

      FREE PREVIEW

    4. Useful Medical Terms (download for reference)

    5. Glossary of Bird Words (download for reference)

    6. A fun quiz to kick start your course!

    1. Wild Bird Rescue Overview and Learning Outcomes

      FREE PREVIEW

    2. Wild Bird Rescue Presentation

    3. Record Keeping & Permits

    4. Rescue and Capture Essentials

    5. Wild Bird Field Capture Techniques (download)

    6. Wild Bird Handling

    7. Transporting Birds

    8. WBR 101 Rescue Quiz

    9. Rescue Resourses - Downloadable documents

    1. First Aid Overview and Learning Outcomes

      FREE PREVIEW

    2. Basic First Aid Checklist

      FREE PREVIEW

    3. Physical Examination of a Bird

    4. Avian Skeletal Anatomy

    5. Wild Bird First Aid Presentation

    6. Crop Tubing Fluids

    7. Tubing Video

    8. Towel Wrapping Video

    9. Wing Bandage Videos

    10. Leg and Foot Bandage Videos

    11. Needle Handling and Subcutaneous Fluids Videos

    12. Pain Management in Birds

    13. Euthanasia

    14. WBR101 First Aid Quiz

    15. First Aid Documents for Download

    1. Ongoing Care Overview & Learning Outcomes

      FREE PREVIEW

    2. Ongoing Care Presentation

    3. Introduction to Nutrition

    4. Nutrition for Birds

    5. Ongoing Care Quiz

    6. Nutrition Resources for Download

    1. This Quiz is a mix of questions from the four previous quizzes. You need a 70% pass in order to gain your certificate.

About this course

  • $97.00
  • 37 lessons

What's Stopping You From Rescuing and Caring For Injured Birds?

The sky is the limit when you learn these core skills to help support a bird in need!

  • GET STARTED NOW

  • JOIN THE WILDLIFE RESCUE COMMUNITY

  • LEARN HANDLING ESSENTIALS

  • BECOME A BIRD NERD

  • REMOVE THE GUESSWORK

  • SAVE A BIRD & EXPERIENCE JOY

Don't enroll in this course if...

  • You are already a skilled and experienced bird rehabilitator

  • You don’t want a life full of rich reward and cherished moments with wildlife

  • You are seeking financial gain

  • You think you know everything about wild bird care

  • You want to cover the specifics of rehabilitation for certain species. This course applies core concepts across a range of species

  • This programme is not for the faint-hearted but is for those who empathise with sick or injured wildlife.

Enroll in Wild Bird Rescue 101 today and receive these six BONUS items...

  • A downloadable Avian Fluid and Feeding Chart

  • A downloadable Basic Rescue kit list

  • Downloadable bird anatomy charts

  • Step-by-step physical examination tips

  • Downloadable physical examination, wildlife admission and medical record charts

  • A downloadable Excel spreadsheet to assist with fluid calculation

What Others Have Said

5 star rating

Easy navigation, practical information, professional inst...

Caroline Walta

Even if you are not from New Zealand, this is a course for all birders (like myself): if I come across an injured or abandoned bird, I now know exactly how t...

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Even if you are not from New Zealand, this is a course for all birders (like myself): if I come across an injured or abandoned bird, I now know exactly how to respond. The course gives clear steps of what (not) to do. And why, which is very helpful to understand and remember the practical information. It also gives a good insight in how a bird body functions. One day I will visit NZ... knowing how to even handle penguins, parrots and kiwis. Keep up the good work Learn Bird Care-team! Caroline (The Netherlands) P.S.: you don't have to take the course in one day, you can resume during a 6 month period; navigation is very easy; quiz questions after each section with extra explanation; professional instruction videos and excellent downloads for future reference.

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5 star rating

Wonderful Course!

Douglas Sims

This was (and still is) such a new and unsure body of information for me....but I am so thankful to all of you for making this course available. I have lear...

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This was (and still is) such a new and unsure body of information for me....but I am so thankful to all of you for making this course available. I have learned to love and admire the birds I have here in southwest Ohio. Occasionally, they do need assistance....and you have gotten me 'off the ground' for the first time with their care on those unexpected occasions. Thank you all so much! (Rating 5 out of 5)

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5 star rating

Excellent Course for Helping Injured or Debilitated Birds

Autumn Klinge

The course covers all of the basic information for rescuing and rehabilitating injured or debilitated birds. Delivered in a very approachable way, with plent...

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The course covers all of the basic information for rescuing and rehabilitating injured or debilitated birds. Delivered in a very approachable way, with plenty of downloadable reference information. I very HIGHLY recommend it!

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5 star rating

Absolutely one of my best life experiences

Judah Kessler

ALL of the information provided is essential, clearly presented, easily understood, thought-provoking and even for someone who has experience with bird rescu...

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ALL of the information provided is essential, clearly presented, easily understood, thought-provoking and even for someone who has experience with bird rescue, even with certificate aside, ought to be studied because there are aspects that could either be taken for granted or missed completely. The texts are clear, concise and "warm", as opposed to merely "point-in-fact", yet not verbose. The illustrations are appropriate and extremely helpful in understanding texts. The down-loadable materials are an asset worth keeping as one might keep a reference text book. And the videos are comfortingly humane. Over-all, it's obvious that heart and soul go into the work all people involved and concerned with this presentation have given. It's educational, informative, inspirational and, for anyone with a heart... comforting. For an on-line course, when I got to the last "page" I almost felt as if parting with "friends".

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5 star rating

Wild Bird Rescue 101 (2021)

Siobhan Crowley

Highly valuable and informative, this online teaching resource was well designed and flowed well, videos loaded and played with minimal delay. The text was a...

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Highly valuable and informative, this online teaching resource was well designed and flowed well, videos loaded and played with minimal delay. The text was at times difficult to read on my laptop which is an entry level device: the font is too fine and the size too small and the font colour too low in contrast. If you make these subtle changes when you next update or revise course content this will increase accessibility for those with declining eyesight. I would highly recommend this course and I intend to continue taking further courses. Do you intend to offer a course covering codes of practice or ethics for volunteers and para-professionals working in bird rescue/bird rehabilitation?

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5 star rating

Brilliant, easy to find on Google

Annemieke Kregting

Easy to follow and very informative, clear text for any one serious about wild bird care.

Easy to follow and very informative, clear text for any one serious about wild bird care.

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5 star rating

Comprehensive information, easy to follow and apply.

Suzy Cincone

WBR101 is a very comprehensive course that provides a range of information and advice in a clear, easy to follow format. It is invaluable for both people wan...

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WBR101 is a very comprehensive course that provides a range of information and advice in a clear, easy to follow format. It is invaluable for both people wanting to be prepared for the occasional wild bird encounter, and those wanting to become more actively involved in rescue and rehabilitation. There are so few resources available for bird rescue education; this course helps to fill this educational gap by providing a reasonably-priced and carefully thought out resource. Highly recommended!

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5 star rating

Ash Lightbody

Ash Lightbody

Amazing, fun and easy learning. Thank you so much

Amazing, fun and easy learning. Thank you so much

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4 star rating

Wild Bird Rescue 101 2021 review

Bronwen Williams

I really enjoyed doing the Wild Bird Rescue course and have definitely learnt lots about helping the many wild birds in our bush and those I come across on m...

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I really enjoyed doing the Wild Bird Rescue course and have definitely learnt lots about helping the many wild birds in our bush and those I come across on my walks. It was very interesting learning about the tubing techniques for delivering fluids, food and medication. I would have liked to see the tutor demonstrating with a live bird so that we could see what to expect when a bird is not that keen on having a tube pushed down its throat. I'd also like to have seen a demo on how to open different birds' beaks. I can open my hens' beaks when necessary, but have had greater difficulty with smaller birds. I would definitely recommend the course for people working with birds - lots of helpful and interesting information - thank you!

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It's Time to Start Making a Difference!

Learn how to correctly care for birds when they are in need of a helping hand

Not Sure if This Course is for You?

Review Your Options
OPTION 1
OPTION 2
OPTION 3

Do you want to help rescue and care for sick or injured birds?

If you continue with your current knowledge and come across a bird in need, will you know what to do? You could try to capture and transport the bird to someone more experienced but how would you handle the bird? How would you ensure you don’t make their suffering worse?

You can try to find free information and resources online – but can you trust the creators of that information? 

Our tutors have collective experience of over 25 years!

Enroll in Wild Bird Rescue 101 and obtain the knowledge and technical skills to safely rescue and care for a bird in need, without compromising animal welfare. 

Our courses are designed to ensure that you get the quality information and resources you will need to provide a great service to wild birds.

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What Do You Get with Wild Bird Rescue 101?

  • 100% Money-Back Guarantee

    Effective for 30 days from purchase date. Details and restrictions apply.

  • 6-Month Completion Period

    You have six months to complete the course. Ongoing access will be available on request.

  • Course Certificate

    All paid courses are awarded a Certificate of Completion.

Still Have Questions?

  • Who is this course for?

    This course is for anyone that has an interest and concern for sick and injured (or abandoned) wild birds. It will be of particular interest to animal care workers, veterinary professionals, field biologists or anyone keen to become a wildlife rehabilitator or be involved with wildlife rescue. Note that some videos or images contain deceased or injured birds and parental guidance is recommended for those under the age of 16. This course gives specific information, demonstrations and step-by-step instructions on how to help a sick or injured bird, whilst keeping yourself safe.

  • Will this course prepare me to be a wildlife rehabilitator?

    Yes, this course will give you a good grounding in some of the essential skills and knowledge to become a wildlife carer – but only for birds. This course does not cover other species. As a “101” course it is important to realise that this is still an introductory level, and that further training, mentorship and experience will be needed. It is important to have others to back you up and to have a veterinary clinic that you can send wildlife to when needed. This course is designed to be a prerequisite to other, species-specific or advanced courses.

  • What if I’m not good with illness or blood?

    There are many ways that you can help in the field of wildlife rehabilitation. Rehabbers are a special bunch of people that see sickness and injury every day – this can be very emotionally draining and is not for everyone. But how about preparing food, fundraising, cleaning or driving the car for wildlife rescues? There are many ways that you can help, and you don’t need to be there full-time to support birds (and their carers!) in need. This course will still help you to understand the bigger picture and the steps involved in rescuing and caring for a wild bird that is too sick or injured to heal on its own.

  • What if I decide it’s not the right course for me?

    We have a money back guarantee, so that if you are unsatisfied with the course, or find it was not at all what you expected, then you have 30 days to request a refund. We are very proud of what we have created and are at no time exaggerating the course content, so we are confident that very few people will find themselves in this position. We are also very open to suggestions for improvements to the course, and with the extended access we give you the opportunity to communicate with us as you go through the course so that we can help with any questions or problems.

  • Will I get a qualification at the end?

    Wild Bird Rescue 101 has three quizzes that you need to pass with a 50% rate to gain a certificate. Whilst this is not an international qualification, it will be favourably looked upon as continuing education, or as evidence of wildlife knowledge for enrolment for other courses. In some countries it will constitute points for Continuing Education.

  • Is there a specific start or completion date?

    You can start the course at any time, and you have six months to complete it after the initial registration. Ongoing access will be available on request and at the discretion of Learn Bird Care Ltd. Any of the downloadable content is yours to keep permanently for review as you need it.

  • What if I decide that wild bird rehabilitation is not for me?

    Even if you decide that this is not something you can commit to right now, you will gain a much better appreciation for the people and organisations that are out there doing this amazing work, and will feel inspired by all the good will and volunteer effort involved. You will be prepared with what specifically to do if you come across a sick or injured bird – whether it be your own pet bird, a wild bird that hits a window or is hit by a car. You can actively contribute to animal welfare by applying the principles learned in this course as situations arise. Alternatively, you could provide good advice to others about where to find the right information and resources.