Good News for the Yellow Fledgling
We have great news to share from our partners at the Wildlife Center of Virginia (WCV). The female fledgling (yellow) which was grounded on Wednesday following a minor collision with a building is ready to be released assuming there are no issues that crop up over the weekend! Although there were initial concerns upon her admission over the status of her left eye, a more thorough ocular exam this morning revealed that there were no issues, and additional examinations and tests showed the bird to be in great health.
Yellow fledgling during her examination at the Wildlife Center of Virginia. Photo curtesy of the Wildlife Center of Virginia.
The WCV will continue to care for yellow over the weekend, including testing her flight which will also allow her to exercise her wings. DWR staff will receive her on the morning of Monday, June 28 and plan to release her at the nest box on Riverfront Plaza around 8:30am.
After her release, we will continue to monitor her progress on site in downtown Richmond throughout the day. We expect that she and her parents will find one another, and that the adults will interact with her as they do with her siblings, whom they are still tending. Depending on our assessment of her flight and landing capabilities we may also monitor her on Tuesday (June 29). As we did with Fledgewatch, we will provide evening updates detailing her activities throughout the day. We will also report on any observations we have of the other three fledglings, although we will be primarily focused on monitoring the yellow fledgling.