Neighbors improvise on the fly to save birds

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When three small, brown sparrows found themselves in a sticky situation earlier this month, a group of residents swooped in to the rescue.

Riverdalian Holly Nakim said just after 8:20 a.m. on Nov. 10, she noticed a woman standing in front of an apartment building at 3220 Netherland Ave.

“What should I do?” she overheard the woman asking another resident.

When Ms. Nakim looked down, she saw three sparrows whose feet were stuck in white caulking glue plastered all over a stretch of asphalt to repair cracks in the pavement. The glue was still wet, Ms. Nakim said.

“At the very least, it was thoughtless and careless,” she said of the use of adhesive. “A thoughtless and careless act resulted in all of this that could have been avoided.”

What ensued was an hours-long rescue operation involving two animal organizations and four caring residents.

A small crowd soon gathered round the trapped fowl. One man came along to see how he could help. Another resident of 3220 Netherland Ave. came down with a knife to try to scrape the glue off the birds’ feet.

He managed to dislodge the birds, with one of them flying off into a tree. But the other two were in no shape to soar.

After the distraught duo was wrapped in a newspaper, Ms. Nakim took the sparrows to the Riverdale Veterinary Group on Riverdale Avenue near West 236th Street. But she learned the facility does not treat wildlife animals.

By 11 a.m., Ms. Nakim was on her way to the Upper West Side to the Wild Bird Fund, a non-profit that offers medical care and rehabilitation to injured, sick and orphaned wildlife.

Rita McMahon, director of the organization, said that a glue trap is a death trap for birds. She added that the non-profit frequently treats birds that get ensnared in the substance because of someone’s carelessness.

Tanisia Morris, Netherland Avenue, Sparrows, Wild Bird Fund, Riverdale
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