Learn Bird Care Ltd
Dr Janelle Ward and Mandy Robertson founded Learn Bird Care, it is a training organisation dedicated to upskilling people to capture, handle, rehabilitate and release sick, injured or abandoned birds. Learn Bird Care has been delivering short courses and workshops in New Zealand since 2014 and went global with its online courses in 2018.
Learn Bird Care offers online training, including a free introductory course in wild bird rehabilitation. Our paid courses are a big step up and are designed to give you all the tools and information you need to help any bird in need, including sick pets or aviary birds, as the principles and techniques are the same!
We continuously aim to improve and expand our courses to meet your needs and invite you to join us on a learning journey and gain insight into the wonderful world of bird care!
If you want to stay in touch, please join our mailing list, send us an email or follow our blog.
Our Founding Members
Wildlife Veterinarian Dr Janelle Ward
Janelle 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 the 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 in Wildlife Rehabilitation for over five years and currently is the Biodiversity Team Leader at New Zealand’s largest fenced eco-sanctuary.
Janelle also has a Certificate in Adult and Tertiary Education and has 3 years of teaching experience in Animal Care and Vet Nursing. She is passionate about the quality care of wild birds and encourages others to learn and become involved in helping birds in need.
Wildlife Rehabilitator Mandy Robertson
Mandy began rehabilitating birds in 2003 and had hands-on experience raising and caring for a vast range of NZ wild bird species. She has helped to hatch and raise threatened species for the NZ Department of Conservation for release to the wild.
Mandy always worked to a very high standard with her dedicated bird treatment room at her rehabilitation centre and developed great aviary designs for different species over the years. Mandy believes that people should no longer need to learn from trial and error regarding wild bird rescue and care. She founded and continues to run the Wild Bird Care Charitable Trust, which supported her directly in the large wildlife rehabilitation centre she used to run.