Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center

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 🌿

03/13/2026

03/13/2026

**Update: reunited with owner

⚠️FOUND BIRD⚠️
being held at DuPage County Animal Services. If this animal looks familiar to you, please call the shelter at (630) 407-2800.

All animals that come to DCAS have been checked for identification, including a microchip.

🏢: 2255 Manchester Rd, Wheaton, IL 60187
📞: 630-407-2800

Animal ID: A0060620626
Arrived on: 3/12/2026

This bird was found near Bloomingdale Rd & Glen Hill Dr, Glendale Heights.

There is no deadline on shelter animals. Please watch our website to see if this animal becomes available for adoption.

Adoption: bit.ly/DCASadoptions
Fostering: bit.ly/DuPageFoster

03/13/2026

Thankful Thursday at CACC 🙏

We want to take a moment to thank everyone who continues to support the animals in our care. Your donations truly make a difference every single day.

🐾 Dog treats remain one of our most needed items.
They’re not just snacks. Treats help our staff and volunteers with socialization, training, enrichment, and building trust with dogs who may be nervous or adjusting to shelter life.

📡 We’re also currently working to replace several of our volunteer shelter radios. These radios help volunteers stay connected across the building & playlots so animals and visitors can always be assisted quickly. We recently identified a more reasonably priced radio option that works with our shelter communication channels, so anyone looking to help in that way can now do so more easily.

Many other supplies are always helpful too, including items like towels, newspaper, litter, and unopened pet food.

If you’d like to help, donations can be sent through our Amazon Wish List or dropped off during our donation hours.

📦 Donation Drop-Off Hours:
Tuesdays, Saturdays & Sundays
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
2741 S. Western Ave. (rear entrance)

Thank you again to everyone who supports the animals at Chicago Animal Care and Control. The generosity of this community helps us provide better care every day. ❤️

03/12/2026

TREE NUTS: A MUST FOR ALL PARROT DIETS
Tree nuts are incredibly healthy, offering a diverse set of nutrients including proteins, carbohydrates, healthy fats, minerals and more. Each type of nut offers a different nutrient complement so offering the different types over the course of a week is ideal. We use only the highest quality, human-grade tree nuts in our foraging blends and only those that have significant health benefits. Here are our favorites which you can get in our various mixes at the shop link in our bio or biobirdblends.com

03/12/2026

03/05/2026

DID YOU KNOW? 🤔

COCKATOOS AND AFRICAN GREY PARROTS IN PARTICULAR ARE PRONE TO CALCIUM DEFICIENCY.

Calcium deficiency (hypocalcaemia) in parrots is a critical, often fatal, condition caused by long-term, low-calcium diets (especially all-seed diets) or lack of UV-B light, and is particularly common in Cockatoos and African Greys.

Calcium is a mineral, and although it's the most abundant mineral in animal bodies, including parrots, an insufficient absorption rate can lead to a deficiency.

Calcium is necessary for skeleton strengthening, muscle contraction, blood clotting, and eggshell formation.

Feather plucking can sometimes be caused by calcium deficiency, too.

Be sure your parrot gets plenty of calcium.

03/05/2026

The 2026 spring bird migration season is underway, with major movement starting in early March and continuing through mid-June, peaking in late April and May.

Light pollution poses a major threat to spring bird migration by attracting, disorienting, and trapping nocturnal migrants in urban areas, leading to fatal collisions with illuminated, glassy, or low-rise buildings. Nearly 70% of North American birds migrate at night, using stars for navigation, which are drowned out by "sky glow".

03/05/2026

Happy ! 🐾 Answering emergency calls is what we do, but helping you never need to make one is equally important to us.

All month long, we'll be sharing resources, expert tips, and tools to help you protect your pets from common household toxins.

Stay tuned, save our posts, and share them with a fellow pet parent who could use them.

If a poisoning emergency happens before then, don't wait — call or chat with us 24/7 at 800-213-6680.