By Andrew Atkinson
An Owlet with an injured wing found in Los Montesinos is recovering at the Santa Faz recovery centre in Alicante – thanks to the Vega Baja town local police.
“One of the areas we cover is the environmental protection section and after the owlet was found with a damaged wing we called the Santa Faz recovery centre in Alicante to collect it,” said a spokesperson from Policia Local de Los Montesinos.
“We hope that the owlet has a speedy recovery,” they added.
If you find an injured bird treat it carefully, and be aware of its beak and claws.
Cover it and put it into a box that has holes in it and place the bird into a quite and dark place. It must not be fed.
In Spain every Comunidad has a Wildlife Recovery Centre and Regional details can be obtained online.
Endangerment of certain species of bird of prey is common, with causes of deaths diverse and differ, from one region to another.
Hunting is a problem, especially with firearms, along with raiding nests and using traps. Destruction of natural habitat, through construction, including highways, landscape modification and aggressive deforestation are also issues.
The use of chemical products, such as insecticides used commonly in agriculture are also dangers.
Indirect deaths are caused, due to collisions with power lines, from electrical shocks when the birds stand on a wire in some cases.
Poison is another danger, with most game preserves using poison to reduce the number of predators, including foxes and weasels – then eaten by birds of prey.
