Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation on Long Island

Two Organizations Doing Important Wildlife Rehabilitation Work 
And How We Can Help featuring the Photography of JR Aurature (@AuratureWildlife)

Original Photography by JR Aurature
Success Stories from Organization’s Instagram
Written by Rich Nardo

The diversity of Long Island’s wildlife is dramatically underrated. From its year round residents to seasonal visitors, our bountiful habitats are full of beautiful creatures ranging from insects to mammals; birds to amphibians and lizards. That doesn’t even factor in the important marine ecosystems that exist along our shores and inland lakes, ponds, and rivers. 

With so much life and vibrancy right in our backyards, it’s important for Long Islanders to be responsible guardians of our land. Our actions can have a myriad of consequences, and when they cause harm or distress to the other creatures who call Long Island home, it’s important that we proactively work to remedy the situation. Wildlife Rehabilitation Centers are integral to successfully assuming this responsibility. 

This month, I wanted to highlight two organizations doing great work in this field - Volunteers For Wildlife in Nassau County and Sweetbriar Nature Center in Suffolk. I also wanted to highlight what we can be doing in our daily life to help protect Long Island’s wildlife. Luckily, JR Aurature (@auraturewildlife) has allowed me to feature his amazing photography to help show how remarkable and varied our wild neighbors are. 

Sweetbriar Nature Center

Sweetbriar is situated on 54 acres of preserve in Smithtown. According to their mission statement, they are dedicated to “providing natural science education services for Long Island residents of all ages and engaging in natural wildlife rehabilitation services”. They are beloved throughout Long Island for their innovative and interactive approach to environmental education outreach and their events are a fun way to spend a few hours, no matter your age or interest level in conservation. 

You can follow Sweetbriar on Instagram and they’ve highlighted several easy ways that you can help in their efforts on their website. They’ve also set up an awesome membership program, the details of which can be found here. 

Here are some success stories from the rehabilitation work that Sweetbriar does! 

Volunteers for Wildlife

Since 1982, Volunteers for Wildlife has been “dedicated to the preservation of Long Island’s wildlife and natural habitats through wildlife rehabilitation and education”. As the only wildlife center operating in Nassau County, they admit over 2,000 injured or orphaned wild animals every year. The number of animals they care for increases dramatically as Nassau County’s population continues to boom, placing people ever closer to the habitats that wildlife call home. 

You can follow Volunteers For Wildlife on Instagram and you can donate or volunteer your time through the organization’s website. You can also “adopt” one of their animal ambassadors, providing needed support for their residents in need of care. 

Here are some success stories from the rehabilitation work that Volunteers For Wildlife does! 

How We Can Help Long Island Wildlife 
Featuring the amazing photography of JR Aurature (@AuratureWildlife)

Shore Birds

Our shores are home to an incredible number of shore bird species, each playing an important role. Long Island hosts about 400 breeding pairs of Piping Plovers, which equates to about 20% of the Atlantic Coast population and over 10% of the global population. Least Terns, Roseate Terns, Common Terns, American Oystercatchers, Black Skimmers, and several migratory species also build their nests here. 

Preserving the land where these species nest is the most important aspect of stabilizing shore bird populations. While there isn’t much we can do about predators or extreme weather destroying beach nesting areas, there are several things that we can control; including being responsible in our approach to beach development, as well as, recreational activities such as the use of vehicles on beaches and restricting pedestrian access to nesting areas. 

Owls

Owls are widespread throughout Long Island. You can learn more about the various species of owl that call Long Island home in my previous blog #NTVArtists: Owls of Long Island Through The Lens of Shane Etter. While their populations are relatively steady, the increased interest in seeking them out, particularly by photographers who aren’t aware of the proper way to approach them, can cause stress for individual birds. 

If you are going to photograph owls, particularly the beloved Snowy Owls that come to our shores in the winter, please be thoughtful in your approach. Fire Island and Beyond ran a great article a few years back on best practices that I would highly recommend reading before attempting to seek out these beautiful raptors out. 

Egrets & Herons

The Great Egret is considered a symbol of wildlife conservation. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they were almost eradicated (95% of the population) from North America by hunters pursuing them for their beautiful plumage. They were also victims of habitat destruction and contamination due to sewage runoff in the middle part of last century. Today they have fully recovered and this success story has led to their silhouette being used in the logo for the Audubon Society. 

While these birds are generally doing well population-wise, protecting the Long Island marshes where they nest and hunt is integral to making sure that stability continues. Marshes in general are some of the most important habitat in the world, and pollution is a major issue in these environments. If we are not careful about keeping them clean, we will continue seeing algae blooms that destroy life at every level of the marine food chain with consequences resonating throughout every aspect of our local natural world.

Raptors

Raptors represent another admirable success story spearheaded by conservationists. Their populations were decimated by the use of pesticides like DDT contaminating their food sources and causing damaging effects to their eggs resulting in fewer successful births. 

Populations are rebounding, but much like the story of the Great Egret, that stability can change in a heartbeat. We need to be vigilant about the conservation of their habitats in order to continue building their success story.

Songbirds

Songbirds might be the category covered in this article where people have the most direct interaction. A lot of Long Islanders love to watch the birds in their backyard, whether perched in trees or at their feeder, but its not always taken into consideration how our actions affect songbirds. 

There are several things we can be doing to help songbirds in our own homes. To start, an estimated 1 billion birds die every year in North America from flying into windows, as they perceive reflections as habitat they can explore. The simplest step to prevent this situation is to install screens to break up the reflection.

Another way to help bird populations is to plant native species in your garden. These plants will not only add beauty to your yard, but will also provide birds with protective shelter, produce the right nectar, berries, and seeds for them to feed on, and attract the right insects that a lot of birds migrating through Long Island like to eat. 

Mammals

Whether we’re talking deer, rabbit, chipmunks, or squirrels, a lot of Long Islanders consider a lot of our mammalian friends to be pests. There are issues with population control, garden destruction, and in the case of deer, considerable injury and car damage from collisions. That being said, they all play an important role in the ecosystem and we should respect that.

The compromise between conservation and protecting your yard starts with residents taking precautions to keep them off your property without harming them. For instance, allowing your dog to spend a lot of time in the yard could deter deer from entering. Also adding layers to your landscape architecture or plants that are taste-repellant can lead to them deciding it’s not a great place to graze. Garlic and hot peppers will help keep chipmunks, rabbits and squirrels out of the garden as well. 

Bees

The importance of bees cannot be overstated. Reports say as many as one in every three bites of food we eat is the result of pollinators like bees. Everything from fruits & veggies (i.e - squash, cucumber, tomato or eggplant) to nuts, seeds, fiber and hay require the pollination process that are at the core of a bee's life. They are some of the planet’s most important species, but they face habitat destruction and population decline due to pesticides, herbicides and disease. 

Important organizations such as the New York Bee Sanctuary are building wildlife refuges specifically to help bumblebee populations, but we can help in our own home gardens using a space as small as a window box. Creating a bee-friendly habitat just requires you to plant a few species - such as daisies or marigolds - that provide the necessary nectar to attract them. A good rule of thumb is that single head flowers generate much more nectar for them than double headed flowers. Avoid hybrid plants and flowers that were engineered to not seed, as they don’t produce the pollen bees require. You can also just do something as simple as only using natural pesticides and fertilizers to do your part in supporting any neighbors who are cultivating a more bee-friendly yard. For more info on how you can build a bee-friendly garden, check out this guide. 

Thank you again to JR for letting me feature his work. His Instagram is one of my favorite feeds and it was an honor to work with him. Also, thank you to Sweetbriar Nature Center and Volunteers for Wildlife for providing mission statements and for the increasingly important work they do on a day-to-day basis. They could really use our contributions right now so, if you can, please donate to their cause or volunteer to help them out!

Additional References:

New York Audubon Society - https://ny.audubon.org/conservation/coastal-bird-conservation
All About Birds (Great Egret Info) - https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Egret/lifehistory
Cornell University (How To Help Birds in Your Yard) - https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/seven-simple-actions-to-help-birds/
New York Bee Sanctuary - http://www.newyorkbeesanctuary.org/
The Honey Bee Conservancy - https://thehoneybeeconservancy.org/plant-a-bee-garden/