Injured Baby Flamingo Passes Away; Belize Bird Rescue Urges Public Awareness During Migration

Last Thursday, we reported on an injured baby flamingo discovered by a teenage girl on the George Price Highway. The injured bird was taken to a veterinary clinic and subsequently transferred to the Belize Bird Rescue Center. Sadly, it passed away later that day due to severe injuries, including a broken wing and hip, likely sustained during its migration. Nikki Buxton, founder of Belize Bird Rescue, spoke to our newsroom today and emphasized the importance of awareness in helping injured birds during their migration season. She shared tips on how people can assist these vulnerable creatures.

Nikki Buxton, Founder, Belize Bird Rescue: “I have to say the rescuers of the flamingo did absolutely everything right. I don’t think there was anything that could have saved this bird. But I always say if we don’t try we can’t save any of them right ? So as far as if anybody comes across a bird that they think is in trouble it’s best to maybe give us a call and we can go onto a WhatsApp video and make sure that is the situation and if it’s absolutely definite that this bird has problems, if somebody can walk right up to them and pick them up that’s not normal and I would recommend that they get the bird out of trouble like away from any predators, out of rain, somewhat warm and dry but at the same time please protect yourself because a lot of these birds have what we call weapons you know they have talons, claws, beaks whatever, they want to defend themselves they don’t know we’re trying to help. So be careful of your eyes for sure. This is actually migration season. They’re coming in from outside of Belize and they come here basically for a winter holiday. We got a lot of people like that too, the birds are the same they want to get away from the bad winter in the states and Canada and they come down to Belize and spend their time here until the weather improves and then they go back north again. But of course when they get here they’ve gone a long longe way, they’ve flown like twenty four, forty eight hours sometimes it’s a serious toll on their body and their fat reserves so when they arrive they’re exhausted and they need to find food really fast. So I ask people to look ou for them but sometimes they don’t need any help they just need putting somewhere safe and left to recover and then they’ll figure things out for themselves.” 

If you would like to learn more about the organization or support their efforts, you can check out their page on Facebook.