Sacramento Heron & Egret Rescue

Sacramento Heron & Egret Rescue Due to the nest sites now being in high traffic areas, the babies are at extreme risk for being injured and orphaned. How can you help? B.

The purpose of this page is to enlist community support for rescue and transport of injured and orphaned baby Herons, Egrets and other wild birds, to provide education, and to advocate for conservation of wildlife habitat. Black Crowned Night Herons, Snowy Egrets and Cattle Egrets have established large nesting colonies in busy areas of Sacramento, in regions that were former wetlands. Sacramento

Heron and Egret Rescue is a group of volunteers who monitor nesting sites, pick up and transport injured and orphaned birds and work closely with the wildlife rehabilitation facilities where the birds receive care. Every year these migratory birds come back to their nesting sites in Sacramento where they remain during the spring and summer months raising their babies. They show up during April and begin to nest and hatch babies in May and continue to do so until late August. The nests are 30 feet or more high in the trees and many of the babies are injured when they fall and hit concrete or hard dirt, resulting in They land on concrete or hard dirt. Though high mortality is normal for these babies due to their species' nesting habits, the issues involving urban nesting sites are much more severe as these baby birds cannot escape the dangers that face them, and their parents will not continue to care for them once on the ground due to the high foot and vehicle traffic. SHER was formed in May 2015 after a baby Black-crowned Night Heron was found with a stick stabbed 2" deep into its back and left for dead below a nesting area in Natomas. Very sadly this was not the first time we saw or heard of abuse targeted at these birds. We also took in an adult Black-crowned Night-heron who had been shot causing permanent damage to his shoulder and was not able to be released back into the wild. He now lives at Curiodyssey in San Mateo, CA. And for these reasons we band together to rescue these birds and get them out of harms way. SHER is a group of community volunteers dedicated to the emergency response, rescue, and safe transport of Herons, Egrets and other wild baby birds that have fallen and become injured, orphaned or displaced in Sacramento, California. We are not a rehabilitation facility, rather we are a group of people who dedicate our efforts toward public education and maintaining an emergency response and rescue team to help save and protect these birds from the dangers of human inflicted suffering and harm, in addition to helping the birds that are just suffering from dehydration, starvation, and injuries sustained from the falls. Our focus is to minimize suffering to the orphaned and injured young birds by getting them out of harm's way and into care as quickly as possible and to maintain a regular volunteer schedule for our rescue, recovery, and transportation team. SHER is not affiliated with the local wildlife rehabilitation center in Sacramento. However, we do work closely with them and other partners. SHER was founded by Brianna Abeyta, former Facility Manager for The Wildlife Care Association, and Christy Berger, former WCA volunteer and Board Member (now with Gold Country Wildlife Rescue). Volunteer with us to aid in our emergency response bird rescue team. Send us a Facebook message with your name and email address, or email us at [email protected]

Donate to us at: www.chuffed.org/project/sher

Donate to the rehab centers that house the birds, or volunteer at the rehab centers. IF YOU FIND A BIRD THAT NEEDS HELP:

1. Have towels and boxes with air holes ready to go
2. Use a towel to carefully pick up the baby
3. Use care to not get injured by the bird or further injure the bird itself
4. Place in an appropriate sized box with a towel on the bottom (you can put more than one bird together if they are similar in size)
5. Get the birds to the nearest wildlife rehabilitation center as soon as possible. Any questions, give us a call any time at 916-542-BIRD (2473)

See links at the bottom of the page for the rehab centers' addresses and operating hours. IF AFTER HOURS:
A, Place the box in a quiet dark place. Place 1/2 of the box on a heating pad set to Low
C. Do not offer the baby food or water
D. Do not disturb the bird (or birds)
E. Get the birds to a rehab center first thing in the morning. If unable to transport, contact us. Nearest wildlife rescues:

Wildlife Care Association
5211 Patrol Rd. McClellan, Ca 95652
Hotline 916-965-9453
Open daily from 10-6. International Bird Rescue
4369 Cordelia Road
Fairfield, California 94534
707.207.0380
Open daily from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Gold Country Wildlife Rescue
11251 B Avenue
Auburn CA
530-885-0862
Open daily from 7:00am - 5:00pm

Congratulations to our friends at Wildlife Care Association of Sacramento !
11/19/2025

Congratulations to our friends at Wildlife Care Association of Sacramento !

Come visit our booth on the 29th and support our rescue efforts for the coming baby season!
11/09/2025

Come visit our booth on the 29th and support our rescue efforts for the coming baby season!

Don't miss this year's Holiday Sale at EYNC on Saturday, November 29th!
We'll have wonderful arts & crafts vendors with lots of amazing and unique gift ideas, and new seasonal merchandise in the Discovery Store with special member discounts!

11/02/2025

Mark your calendars because we will have a booth at this event again this year!

Learn about the amazing work being done to protect local waterbirds in this interview with Andrea Willey, Founder of Wat...
10/18/2025

Learn about the amazing work being done to protect local waterbirds in this interview with Andrea Willey, Founder of Waterbird Habitat Project and Wade Crowfoot, Director of the California Natural Resources Agency!

Join Secretary Wade Crowfoot of the California Department of Natural Resources for an insightful interview with Dr. Willey, founder of the Waterbird Habitat Project, as he highlights how the project reflects their mission to help all Californians and nature thrive together!

SHER volunteers pooled their resources to donate funds, and volunteer Roxy created the beautiful poster that we all sign...
09/06/2025

SHER volunteers pooled their resources to donate funds, and volunteer Roxy created the beautiful poster that we all signed and delivered to our partners at WCA! We are so grateful for all of their hard work with the herons, egrets and all other critters! As one of our volunteers wrote on the poster "We catch 'em, you fix 'em! Thank you WCA!" 😃

A huge thank you to Christy, co-founder of SHER (Sacramento Heron & Egret Rescue), for bringing our director Sandra this beautiful board filled with handwritten thank yous and hand-painted birds! 💛

SHER is dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating, and releasing herons, egrets, and other wading birds across the Sacramento area. They bring us the injured and orphaned birds they find, providing the food, medical treatment, and safe environment these birds need to thrive before returning to the wild.

On top of this thoughtful gift, SHER raised $450 for our Fill the Freezer fundraiser last month to help feed our hungry herons and egrets. We are so grateful for their support and partnership in protecting our local wildlife!

It's true! 🤣
07/25/2025

It's true! 🤣

Bird sounds.

07/24/2025

Video of the little guy one of our volunteers transported to Gold Country Wildlife Rescue all the way from Butte County! There are no resources in that area for baby herons and egrets unfortunately, but we have some rock stars on our team willing to go the extra mile, literally! We are grateful to Gold Country for the excellent care being provided to this little tiny guy!

We are grateful to Gold Country Wildlife Rescue for taking in this baby we coordinated transport for all the way from Bu...
07/20/2025

We are grateful to Gold Country Wildlife Rescue for taking in this baby we coordinated transport for all the way from Butte County! Please show them some love by donating and sharing the post!

🚨 Meet one of our newest patients (ID #25-2773): a Black-crowned Night Heron chick! Some say adorable, others say it looks like a tiny dinosaur… and honestly, both are absolutely correct. 🦖🐣

This little one is now safe in care and growing stronger each day. When it’s ready, it will be released back to the wild where it can rejoin a nesting colony (called a rookery) and live the Black-crowned Heron life it was meant for—napping in trees during the day and hunting in the evenings and at night for fish, crayfish, insects, and the occasional bit of carrion. 🌳🌙🎣

❤️‍🩹 Caring for unique wild animals just like this little prehistoric puffball takes time, skill, and resources. If you’d like to help this chick (and other critters like it) get a second chance at life in the wild, please consider making a gift here: https://ddock.co/9P1FQ6WB6Y

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Sacramento, CA

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+19165422473

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SHER’s mission is to minimize pain and suffering in wildlife by providing emergency response, rescue and transportation to vulnerable, at-risk wild animals. We maintain open communication with the public, generate awareness, and provide support and advice on humane approaches to co-existing with wildlife in an urban environment.

Human civilization has had a profoundly negative impact on wildlife and their habitats. We turn their wild land into human homes and cities. Pavement, cars, poisons, new building developments and more all take a huge toll. The will to survive is strong however, and is apparent among the herons and egrets nesting in urban areas of Sacramento - areas that were former wetlands where they have likely nested for thousands of years, before our human population exploded. We as humans have a duty to help these animals who are trying so hard to survive, with constantly shrinking habitat.

Sacramento Heron and Egret Rescue (SHER) is here to help.

We are a band of community volunteers who go out into the field daily during nesting season to pick up helpless baby birds, who are injured with broken legs and wings, head trauma, or are suffering with dehydration and starvation. We assess each bird to determine whether it truly requires rescuing, and transport these vulnerable young creatures to wildlife rehabilitators for medical care.