Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center

04/26/2026

Peak spring migration is fast approaching, and with it comes a serious threat to birds across North America. By making simple changes to your home or building, you can help protect birds and support their incredible journeys. Visit the Bird Collision Prevention Alliance website to learn how to make glass safer, and reduce light pollution for birds: https://www.stopbirdcollisions.org/

04/26/2026

♥️🦜🦜🦜♥️

04/26/2026

Happy World Veterinary Day!!! 🦜🐈🐰🐾🐕🐶🦎🐍

04/26/2026

04/10/2026

Before getting the lawnmower out for the first cutting of the season, you may want to give your yard a good once-over to make sure it's free of cottontail rabbit nests to avoid any unnecessary trauma — for you and the baby rabbits.

04/10/2026

04/10/2026

Drum roll, please! The AHS has released their new heartworm incidence map and survey. The bad news? Heartworm disease is being diagnosed nationwide. The good news? Heartworm disease is PREVENTABLE. https://bit.ly/4c8QNj2

04/08/2026

Birds are frequently victims of window collisions. We admit many birds every year that hit windows and sustain head trauma/brain injuries. Some of those injuries take a long time to heal and others resolve quite quickly.

We admitted this beautiful male Northern Flicker a mere five days ago. He had hit a window in a residential area and sustained head trauma. Fortunately, he made a quick recovery and was released today.

Thank you to Amy for bringing the flicker to us for care and thanks to our volunteer Cyd for releasing the flicker today.

Here's a link from from our website regarding what to do if a bird hits your window. Enjoy the release video (in comments) and the picture that was taken as I was putting him in the carrier to head back to his home territory.

https://flintcreekwildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/I_Found_a_Bird_that_Hit_a_Window-1.gif

04/08/2026

Heartworm disease starts with a single mosquito bite, but what happens next can be anything but simple.

Prevention is easy to stay on top of. Treatment? Not so much. It can be more complex, more expensive, and requires ongoing veterinary care. 🏥

Helping clients understand that difference can make all the impact when it comes to keeping pets protected year-round. 🌳

Link to more heartworm resources and education in the comments

04/01/2026

ATTENTION: We will be closing at 12 pm on Thursday April 2nd for staff training.

This dedicated training time is an important investment in our team and will help us better serve our patients. We will resume regular business hours on Friday April 3rd.

During this time, we will not be reachable by phone and any voice mails, emails or text messages will not be returned until the next business day.

If your pet needs immediate care, please contact:

Blue Pearl Northfield at 847-564-5775 (for dogs and cats)

Veterinary Emergency Group at 312-757-5444 (for dog, cat, birds and exotics)

We apologize for the inconvenience.

03/13/2026

Week two migration update. The wave is building.

Arrived this week across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic:

- Eastern Phoebe — first flycatcher of the season, tail-pumping on fence posts, calling FEE-bee at dawn
- Tree Swallow — iridescent blue-green, checking nest boxes, aerial feeding on warm afternoons
- American Woodcock — sky dances underway anywhere the ground has thawed enough to probe for worms
- Common Grackle — iridescent black swarms hitting bird feeders, loud and unmistakable

Arriving next week, March 9 through 15:

- Eastern Bluebird — pairs forming, inspecting cavities and boxes. If you have a box, clean it before they arrive
- Osprey — arriving on southern and mid-Atlantic lakes, claiming cell towers, channel markers, and utility poles
- Fox Sparrow — big rufous sparrow, scratching leaf litter with both feet at once
- Brown-headed Cowbird — back early and already scouting nests to lay eggs in. They don't build their own — they drop eggs in other birds' nests and let the host raise the chick

Staging for late March:

- Louisiana Waterthrush — first warbler-adjacent arrival, streams and creek banks
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher — tiny, hyperactive, building its lichen-covered nest
- Barn Swallow — forked tail, needs mud for nest building and open buildings to nest inside
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet — massive song from a bird that weighs less than a nickel

By March 20, the composition of your yard changes weekly. By April 1, daily.

🐦 What to do this week:

- Keep feeders stocked — new arrivals are hungry and disoriented after overnight flights and your feeder might be the first food they find
- Clean nest boxes now if you haven't — bluebirds and tree swallows are inspecting this week and skip dirty cavities
- A shallow water source with a drip draws in migrants that skip feeders entirely
- Step outside twenty minutes after sunset and listen for woodcock peent calls from open fields — the sky dance season has about four weeks left

The early wave is here. The main wave is next 🌿