The page has turned and the Wildlife Medical Clinic is excited to embark on yet another year tending and caring for our local wildlife. With every new year, there is value in taking time to reflect on the past. In 2025, the Wildlife Medical Clinic provided care to over 2,000 members of our wildlife community, […]
We’ve all heard those sweet trills of our avian friends perched atop branches. They beckon our attention, but beyond the birds exhibiting their vast vocal range for every passing audience, have you ever stopped to consider what that song means? Or how birds come to perform their tunes so perfectly? Who is doing the singing? […]
Bird Migration Every fall and spring hundreds of bird species take to the skies to travel between their winter and summer homes. In the United States, most regions become too cool and mainly offer too little food for these birds to survive the winter, thus forcing these birds to migrate to more southern areas to […]
Join Wildlife Medical Clinic Program Coordinator, Sydney Oliveira, as she plays some trivia on CiLiving to discuss common ways various wildlife survive the cold, winter months.
Wildlife Medical Clinic Overview Each year, the Wildlife Medical Clinic at the University of Illinois provides care to around 2,300 wildlife patients and about 120 different species. We take all native Illinois wildlife, excluding skunks and bats. While these animals arrive for a variety of reasons including injury, illness, and being orphaned as youngsters, the […]
As spooky season approaches, we want to talk about a few animals that get a bad rap for being scarier than they truly are. Owls Owls are often associated with death and bad luck and were once thought to be messengers of witches. One owl in particular, the barn owl, takes the brunt of some […]
General Information and Characteristics Considered to be one of the fastest flying shorebirds, reaching speeds of up to 60 miles per hour, the American Golden Plover is a common migratory bird species found traversing the state of Illinois, as well as throughout the Midwest region. Each year, hailing from the Arctic Tundra, these elusive migratory […]
Avian Migration Whether you’re an avid bird-watcher or a person who avoids parking under trees so that you don’t have to wash the droppings off of your car for the nth time this week, you’re bound to have noticed that bird populations seem to ebb and flow with the seasons. You might be wondering, “where […]
Sydney Oliveira, WMC Program Coordinator, had the pleasure of chatting with Illinois Extension educators on their podcast, Everyday Environment. Some topics that were discussed include the following: To listen to the podcast or read the blog, check out the links below.
Several weeks ago, we made the difficult decision to humanely euthanize our resident barred owl, Vara. This decision came about due to an overall decline in her quality of life. Although Vara did not travel for ambassador programs, she could be seen outside during cool summer evenings, her favorite time of day. She was loved […]