When the Ching-chings start dive-bombing unsuspecting tourists walking through George Town, it is clearly nesting season.

Unfortunately, with nesting season come baby birds in need of help, and although Cayman Wildlife Rescue makes every attempt to restore nestlings to their wild families, this is not always possible.

The organisation is appealing for volunteers to hand-raise baby birds for release back into the wild.

“Fallen nestlings are a growing problem mainly due to lack of good nest sites in urban areas. Birds are often using palm trees which do not provide a good nesting platform. Trees are also cut back at this time for hurricane preparedness,” said Alison Corbett, programme manager at Cayman Wildlife Rescue.

“The programme has recently lost some valued volunteers and is in urgent need of new volunteers who have the time to hand-rear nestlings. Although we have an extensive volunteer list we do not have many volunteers who are free during daytime hours,” said Ms Corbett.

Although hand raising a baby bird can be very rewarding, it can also be quite time consuming, so volunteers need to be able to feed nestlings every 30 to 60 minutes from sun up to sundown. The birds must be housed in a quiet and secure environment and will require one to two months of care.

As volunteers need to conduct the care from their home, those who rent property will need written authorisation from their landlord. Volunteers also need to be age 18 or older.

“We’re looking for individuals who work from home, are retired or are on summer break. Raising wild birds for release is hard work, but very rewarding, and generally the birds can be released onto the volunteer’s property,” said Ms Corbett.

There are numerous other ways in which members of the public can assist the programme.

Taking care when pruning shrubs and trees and avoiding those with nests in them can help birds. Being a responsible pet owner can also help Cayman’s bird life, as cats and dogs running free can easily kill baby birds learning to fly. Keeping a dog confined to a fenced yard and keeping a cat inside can help protect Cayman wildlife.

Anyone who finds a baby bird should call the LIME-sponsored Wildlife Emergency Hotline 917-BIRD (2473) for help and support. The organisation has a tall ladder to assist with nest and nestling restorations and has trained wildlife rehabilitators.

Never attempt to care for wildlife yourself. Wild animals have special diets and demanding feeding schedules and need the expert care of a trained volunteer.

Cayman Wildlife Rescue is a programme of the National Trust for the Cayman Islands tasked with the rescue of sick, injured and orphaned wildlife for release back into the wild. It is financed by donations from the public and staffed entirely by volunteers.

Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Alison Corbett at caymanwildliferescue@gmail.com, or visit caymanwildliferescue.org.