Top 20 Songbird Admissions

Young robin offered a mulberry.

The following data is the yearly average of top 20 avian patients admitted to the Wildlife Center of Virginia from 2008-2015. The birds included in this list are the species that eat plant foods in their diets. The list ranks the species that are the “heavy hitters”—the species most frequently admitted to the hospital on average.

Of course, there are many other species of birds that get treated by rehabilitators. The census list changes somewhat from year to year, and location to location.

American Robin 120/ year
European Starling 102
Mourning Dove 60
Mallard 49
Blue Jay 43
Common Grackle 41
House Sparrow 32
American Crow 30
Northern Cardinal 28
Canada Goose 27
House Finch 24
Rock Dove 23
House Wren 21
Northern Mockingbird 19
Eastern Bluebird 17
Wood Duck 16
Gray Catbird 14
American Goldfinch 12
Eastern Phoebe 10
Cedar Waxwing 9