Austin Wildlife Rescue

🐣 SUMMER INTERNSHIP! Help us Raise the Roost this summer!! 🪺

AWR needs help during the summer months with our feathered friends!! Texas has a WIDE variety of beautiful songbirds, and we need your help to take care of the thousands of songbirds that come to our facility for care.

We are looking for interns to develop expertise in the art of caring for songbirds. We have 20-40 hours shifts a week available, every day of the week available. Internships run from end of May through mid August at our Elgin Rehab Center.

Shifts are 10 hours shifts. While the days will be set, the timing of the shifts will vary, so we need interns available for all time shifts:
🐥 6am-4pm
🐥 10am-8pm
🐥 peak season possibly 11am-9pm

🐦‍⬛ Must be 18 years or older
🐦‍⬛ Must be used for college class credit (proof required)

If you want to help us “raise the roost,” please send an email with a cover letter to : [email protected]

It's 💲5️⃣ Fawn Friday!! 🦌

It’s definitely fawn season, and we are currently caring for 25 injured or orphaned fawns. Fawns are one of the most expensive animals we care for, as they need species specific formula, fresh produce and pellets each day.

The last Friday of each month we'll be asking for your help to cover our formula and supply costs for the year.

Just $5 helps us purchase the specialized formula we need for all our animals and produce for our growing babies.

We love our rat snakes! ❤️🐍 This has been the year of snakes caught in odd predicaments. Thank you Harry Downing, Snake Wrangler!

Can you smell me now? 🐽 This fuzzy little goblin will grow up to help keep our ecosystems healthy. If you knew this was a baby Turkey Vulture, then you’re right on target! Turkey Vultures have an incredible sense of smell and detect carrion from over a mile away… that explains their huge nose holes (or scientifically speaking, perforated septum)!

This walking cotton ball arrived with attitude! Turkey Vulture chicks defend themselves by hissing and projectile vomiting. It’s a defense that you only have to experience once. 🤢

Unlike many birds, turkey vultures don’t build fancy nests, they usually lay eggs in hollow logs, caves, or structures. This chick was found after the nest was discovered in a burn pile. During baby season, many wildlife seek shelter in stacked brush and not all residents are easy to spot. Always check your brush piles before attempting to burn them. Try to avoid burning any brush piles until after baby season. Give wildlife a warning—If a pile must be burned, gently disturb it and allow time for animals to leave before moving or burning the material.

Thank you to the finders who noticed the baby and immediately put out the fire and brought the chick to us to check for injuries. Just a few tiny singed feathers, but overall a clean bill of heath.

🧊 ICE ICE BABY! 🍉ICE CHESTS NEEDED FOR FOOD STORAGE 🥬

With baby season in full swing, we’re needing extra food storage for our hungry wildlife patients! We’re in need of 120 quart ice chests/coolers to help keep our non refrigerated produce fresh and ready to use.

From banana-loving raccoons to sweet potatoe-loving tortoises, coolers will help keep everyone fed and healthy. 💚🐢🦝

📦 Amazon Wishlist: ⬇️
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2Z0UUL7E8HCE2?redirectFromSmile=1&ref_=wl_share

Fowl Play! 🦆

When the summer months begin, we start seeing a huge influx of duckling calls with reports that a group of ducklings has been abandoned. The most common species of duckling we take are Black-bellied Whistling Ducks.

Black-bellied whistling ducks are tree ducks and frequently make their nests in tree cavities. After hatching, ducklings jump from the nest to the ground or water and stay with parents for about six months.

Black-bellied Whistling duck pairs lay 9–18 eggs per clutch 🪺, but it’s not unusual to see broods with 20 or more ducklings following one adult. This can happen because multiple females lay eggs in the same nest — a behavior called “egg dumping” or brood sharing.

Ducklings are rarely abandoned — even if you don’t see mom nearby. 🦆 It’s not uncommon for the parents to be in a nearby tree, watching their babies from above, especially if people, dogs, or other animals approach the group.

If the babies look alert, fluffy, and uninjured, the best thing you can do is give them space and keep pets and people away. 💛

Only intervene if:
‼️ The ducklings are injured
‼️ Mom has been confirmed dead
‼️ They’re trapped somewhere unsafe
‼️ They’ve been alone for many hours with no sign of mom

☎️ WE ALWAYS RECOMMEND CALLING BEFORE TAKING ACTION (512-472-9453) so our staff can help assess the situation to ensure that every effort is made to keep the babies with their parents.

Honoring Memorial Day! Today, we take the time to remember and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. 🕊️🇺🇸

🐣 Help us Raise the Roost this summer!! 🪺

Austin Wildlife Rescue needs help during the summer months with our feathered friends!! Texas has a WIDE variety of beautiful songbirds, and we need your help to take care of the thousands of songbirds that come to our facility for care.

We are looking for interns to develop expertise in the art of caring for songbirds.
We have 20-40 hours shifts a week available, every day of the week available.
Internships run from end of May through mid August.

Shifts are 10 hours shifts. While the days will be set, the timing of the shifts will vary, so we need interns available for all time shifts:
🐥 6am-4pm
🐥 10am-8pm
🐥 peak season possibly 11am-9pm

🐦‍⬛ Must be 18 years or older
🐦‍⬛ Must be used for college class credit (proof required)

If you want to help us "raise the roost," please send an email with a cover letter to : [email protected]

🌸Fawn Facts! 🦌

It’s that time of year when you’ll start seeing adorable, wobbly-legged fawns around! If you are lucky enough to have deer in your area that are having babies, here are some helpful tips for our fawn friends.

💛 A fawn found alone is not necessarily orphaned. Female Deer (does) will leave their babies for hours, sometimes until dusk, to forage for food before they come back to nurse their young.

💛 Fawns lay and sleep curled up like cats, this is called “pancaking”. A baby curled up and quiet is just waiting for mom to return.

💛 Mom often finds unique locations to “park” her baby while she’s away. If the fawn is not in danger, then please leave it alone.

💛 “Curled” ears don’t always mean dehydration. Fawns are often born with somewhat curled or wilted ear tips.

‼️A fawn in distress or injured will typically lay on its side with legs stretched out.

‼️Crying and wandering around or following people is a good indication that the fawn could be orphaned.

‼️Any fawn obviously injured or covered in flies or ants needs to be brought to us right away!

☎️ WE ALWAYS RECOMMEND CALLING BEFORE TAKING ACTION (512-472-9453) so our staff can help assess the situation to ensure that every effort is made to reunite the fawn with its mother.

🛠️ We’re Hiring!! 🚧

AWR is looking for a dependable, organized Facilities Maintenance Assistant to help keep our Elgin facility running smoothly. This role supports building maintenance and repairs, groundkeepings, and general day-to-day facility needs. If you enjoy hands-on work, problem-solving, and helping create a welcoming environment, we’d love to hear from you!

Learn More ⬇️
https://www.austinwildliferescue.org/employment/facilities-maintenance-assistant