Avian Haven

Call Directions Website Contact the organization

Avian Haven Avian Haven is a hospital for wild birds in Freedom, Maine If you have found an injured or orphaned bird try to keep the animal WARM, DARK, and QUIET.

Keep in mind that we are predators in their eyes. Any external noise and visual stimulation is very stressful. A cardboard box with holes poked in the side and an old towel or t-shirt on the bottom is the safest container. This reduces visual stimulation and also protects the bird's feathers. It is important to contact a certified wildlife rehabilitator as soon as possible.

This beautiful female Belted Kingfisher came to us after colliding with a window, and we’re thrilled to share that she h...
10/15/2026

This beautiful female Belted Kingfisher came to us after colliding with a window, and we’re thrilled to share that she has been released back into the wild!

Fun fact: kingfishers are one of the few bird species where the female is more colorful than the male. You can spot her by the rusty chestnut band across her belly.

We’re so grateful to her finder, who did exactly the right thing by calling us right away. After a window strike, a bird may look fine but still be dealing with head trauma or internal swelling, so getting expert advice quickly can make all the difference. After a course of anti-inflammatory medication and some rest, she made a full recovery and was ready to go home.

If you find a bird after a window strike: gently place it in a covered box with air holes, keep it somewhere dark, quiet, and warm, and please don’t offer food or water. Then give us a call so we can help.

Want to help prevent window strikes at home? Decals, screens, or exterior window markings spaced a few inches apart can help birds see the glass.

Thank you for supporting wild birds in Maine! 💚

Hours. That's how long our rehab team spent gently cleaning dried raw egg from a young Chimney Swift's face before treat...
10/13/2026

Hours. That's how long our rehab team spent gently cleaning dried raw egg from a young Chimney Swift's face before treatment could even begin. 🪶

A kind finder had been feeding the fallen nestling raw egg, hoping to help. But chimney swifts eat only flying insects, caught on the wing, their whole lives. By the time this swift reached us, the egg had dried and sealed its eyes shut.

It's a reminder that even loving care can put a bird in more danger. If you find a bird in need, please don't offer food or water. Here's why:

🐤 A cold bird can't digest food, and a sick or injured bird needs all its energy for healing.
🐤 Every species needs a specific diet. Egg, bread, milk, and even birdseed can cause serious harm, and online searches and AI often get this wrong.
🐤 Injured birds may need X-rays, which are safest on an empty stomach.
🐤 Water is easily spilled on a bird, leaving it soaked and unable to stay warm.
🐤 It's illegal to keep or feed a wild bird without a rehabilitation license.
🐤 Birds are tougher than you think. They can safely go hours or even days without food while traveling to us. The wrong food is far more dangerous.

What to do instead: call our hotline at (207) 382-6761, 9am–5pm, 365 days a year. We'll walk you through safe containment (just a box, a towel, and a quiet space) and connect you with our network of more than 120 volunteers across the state ready to bring birds to us.

Every hour of careful cleanup, every species-specific formula, and every X-ray is made possible by supporters like you. 💛 Help us be ready for the next call by giving through the link in our bio.

Please share this post so more people know to call first! 🐦

Honoring Indigenous Peoples’ DayToday we honor the Wabanaki people, the Penobscot, Abenaki, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, and...
10/12/2026

Honoring Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Today we honor the Wabanaki people, the Penobscot, Abenaki, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, and Mi’kmaq, on whose homelands Avian Haven stands and our work takes place.

We are grateful to learn from and stand alongside the Wabanaki communities of Maine. To learn more, we encourage you to visit the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor or Wabanaki REACH.

May we all protect ancestral lands and care for the world we share, for both people and animals. 🦅

A bird that weighs about as much as two quarters can fly nonstop over the Atlantic Ocean for up to three days. 🌊Meet Pat...
10/06/2026

A bird that weighs about as much as two quarters can fly nonstop over the Atlantic Ocean for up to three days. 🌊

Meet Patient 26-2255, a blackpoll warbler found outside 300 Fore Street in Portland after hitting a window, likely just as it was about to begin its fall migration.

Blackpolls make the longest migration of any North American warbler, with some traveling more than 5,000 miles from their breeding grounds to South America. To prepare, they can nearly double their body weight. During triage, Senior Rehab Tech Athena noted how lithe and smooth this bird's flight muscles were, as if it were ready to take off that very week.

Blackpoll warblers are a threatened species in Maine, so we notified the state after this bird arrived. The good news: no broken bones! The warbler has a soft tissue injury to its left shoulder causing a wing droop. It's on cage rest with regular physical therapy and is on track to move to an outdoor flight enclosure in the next week or so. For migratory birds, every day counts, so we're working to get this traveler back on its journey as soon as it's safe.

Millions of birds are migrating through Maine right now. Here's how you can help:

🐤 Add decals, screens, or tape to windows to break up reflections
🐤 Turn off unnecessary lights at night during migration
🐤 If a bird hits your window, bring it to a rehabilitator, even if it seems fine
🐤 For bird emergencies, call (207) 382-6761. Our volunteers across the state are ready to bring birds to us.

Help us get Patient 26-2255 back in the sky. Donate here: https://www.avianhaven.org/donate-here 💛

A Note to Our Community 🐦Today, Avian Haven will stop accepting calls and bird admissions at 1:00 PM so our full staff c...
10/02/2026

A Note to Our Community 🐦

Today, Avian Haven will stop accepting calls and bird admissions at 1:00 PM so our full staff can gather for a debrief after a very busy season.

This year our team cared for thousands of wild birds, and we're grateful to every finder, transport volunteer, and supporter who helped make that possible. Taking this time to reflect together helps us keep improving the care we give the birds who need us.

If you find a bird in need after 1:00 PM:
Place it gently in a ventilated, covered box lined with a soft cloth. Keep it somewhere warm, dark, and quiet, away from pets and children. Please don't offer food or water. Call us when we reopen on tomorrow morning, and we'll be glad to help.

For urgent situations, you can find a rehabber at ahnow.org

Thank you for your patience and for caring about Maine's wild birds.

With gratitude,
The Avian Haven Team

If you're 70½ or older with a Traditional IRA, a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) lets you send funds directly to...
10/02/2026

If you're 70½ or older with a Traditional IRA, a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) lets you send funds directly to Avian Haven. It can count toward your Required Minimum Distribution, lower your taxable income, and you don't need to itemize to benefit.

$111,000. That's how much you can give from your IRA in 2026 without it counting as taxable income. 🪶

For the birds, it means we can respond right away when a call comes in about an injured loon, an orphaned owlet, or a hawk struck by a car, and provide the constant attention throughout the day that recovery requires.

Swipe through for the simple steps ➡️ more info: https://www.avianhaven.org/blog/qcd

Questions? Email [email protected].

💛 Know someone who'd find this helpful? Share this post or tag them below.

10 birds. 1 day. 3 reasons. 🐦People often ask what the most common reason is for a bird coming to Avian Haven. Last Wedn...
09/30/2026

10 birds. 1 day. 3 reasons. 🐦

People often ask what the most common reason is for a bird coming to Avian Haven. Last Wednesday, our patients answered for us:

🐱 Caught by cats: a Mourning Dove and a House Sparrow
🚗 Hit by cars: a Herring Gull and a Cedar Waxwing
🪟 Window strikes: a Swainson’s Thrush, a Gray Catbird, a Common Yellowthroat, a White-throated Sparrow, and two Mourning Doves

Six of Wednesday's ten birds hit windows. Fall migration is underway, and birds passing through unfamiliar places are especially at risk from glass that reflects sky and trees.

Here’s the most important thing to know: any bird that hits a window or has been in a cat’s mouth needs to see a rehabilitator, even if it seems fine. Birds often appear to recover and fly off, only to die later. Window strikes can cause bleeding or swelling of the brain, and cat-caught birds need antibiotics quickly to fight infection. The sooner they get to us, the better their chances.

How you can help:
🐤 Keep cats indoors
🐤 Add decals, screens, or patterned film to the outside of your windows
🐤 Call us right away after a window strike or cat encounter
🐤 Slow down on rural roads at dawn and dusk

Found a bird in need? Call our hotline at (207) 382-6761, open 9am–5pm every day. Our volunteers across the state are ready to bring birds to us.

Every day, our team feeds, treats, and assesses every patient, always asking: is this bird on the road to release? Your support makes that care possible. Donate at http://www.avianhaven.org/donate-here 💛

Please like and share to help more birds get the care they need! 🐦

(Photo: Red-eyed Vireo who also came in after striking a window in the last week)

09/29/2026

Success story! Kestrel patient 26-1686 is released, after it's best was destroyed in a storm.

🪶 Migratory shorebird populations have dropped by more than half since 1980 — and right now, thousands of exhausted bird...
09/22/2026

🪶 Migratory shorebird populations have dropped by more than half since 1980 — and right now, thousands of exhausted birds are flying straight through Maine's skies.

It's peak fall migration on the Atlantic Flyway. Tree swallows have mostly gone. Arctic shorebirds are staging along our coast for a non-stop, week-long flight to South America. Ruby-throated hummingbirds — weighing barely more than a penny — are about to cross the Gulf of Mexico in one shot.

It's an incredible feat of endurance. It's also incredibly dangerous. Migrating birds face:

🐤 Light pollution that pulls night-flying migrants off course and into cities
🐤 Windows — one of the leading causes of bird deaths in North America
🐤 Severe weather that can strand or kill birds by the thousands
🐤 Habitat loss along the flyway, wiping out stopover sites birds depend on to refuel

Maine is home to more than 400 species of wild birds, and Avian Haven is equipped to treat any of them — from hummingbirds to herons to hawks. Pools for waterbirds. Flight enclosures for raptors. Quiet housing for owls. Incubators with baby birds and constant attention throughout the day for every patient.

None of it happens without you. Our hotline runs every day of the year, and volunteers across the state are ready to bring birds to us from wherever they're found.

📞 Found an injured bird? Call our hotline: (207) 382-6761 (emergencies only)
💛 Want to help more migrants make it home? 👉avianhaven.org/donate-here

09/22/2026

We’re at the end of the baby bird season, and we thought you’d enjoy this video of goldfinch babies sharing a meal together.

Address

418 N Palermo Road
Freedom, ME
04941

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+12073826761

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Avian Haven posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Avian Haven:

Shortcuts

Share

Category