What are the opening hours?

Monday 10am - 7pm Tuesday 10am - 7pm Wednesday 10am - 7pm Thursday 10am - 7pm Friday 10am - 7pm Saturday 10am - 7pm Sunday 10am - 7pm

Skywatch Bird Rescue

Home
United States
Castle Hayne, NC
Skywatch Bird Rescue

Call Directions Website Contact the organization

Birds receive medical care, food, safe
shelter and rehabilitation. Once they have recovered from their injuries, they are released back to the wild.

SkyWatch is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, all-volunteer, and donation-funded organization that rescues and provides sanctuary for injured, orphaned & misplaced wild, exotic & domestic birds in North Carolina.

“For a chance to soar once more!” Those that are non-releasable after recovery become permanent residents here at the rescue.

10/27/2026

If you’re looking for fun without the frights, don’t forget that we will be open for trick-or-tweeting and walkarounds from 12-4pm on Halloween! 🎃 Kids will receive candy at the door, plus treats for the whole family to share with our animals. Costumes encouraged, and we will give away a small prize to the best dressed kid! It appears one of our donkeys is entering the contest, too.

Entry is a $12 donation per person and we accept all payment methods: linktr.ee/skywatchbirds.

📍3600 Lynn Ave. in Castle Hayne

10/26/2026

Do you enjoy taking long walks on the beach? We are already in sick and cold-stunned seabird season, and we could use your help keeping an eye on our beaches for stranded birds. Seabirds are adapted to live their life out on the water, and a healthy one has no reason to be on land. Any loon, gannet, or shearwater (all pictured) you see on the beach is not resting, it needs rescue.

We are searching for folks who live on or near Topsail Island, Wrightsville Beach, and Pleasure Island (Carolina Beach through Fort Fisher) to be beach response volunteers for the winter season. This entails being added to a group chat where we post requests for rides called into our hotline, then responding as you are available to. There is no set schedule, we just ask that you remain active and participate at least once a month.

This type of rescue does not require any special equipment or training, and guidance is given on each one you go on. Because these birds live on water, they cannot walk, take flight, or move much at all on land and can often simply be picked up with what you have in your beach bag.

If interested, please message us your phone number and a hotline worker will reach out to give you more information and get you started.

10/24/2026

We are back open for visitation from 12-4pm today after several wet weekends, and the donkeys can’t wait to see you (and your snacks!). Entry is a $10 donation per person and we accept all payment methods: linktr.ee/skywatchbirds.

📍3600 Lynn Ave. in Castle Hayne

10/23/2026

This juvenile Osprey came in last month after being found perched on the back of a boat for hours. She was fortunately uninjured and was able to fly back home after a few days of observation. Osprey are awkward on land and cannot walk like other raptors. Their feet do not sit flat due to their long, curved talons, designed for gripping fish and branches high above the water. Osprey also do not have a typical fledging period in which they hop on the ground. Similar to eagles, they leave their nest fully-flighted, but may be hesitant with landings and takeoffs at first, like this bird was.

To give this youngster a head start, we gently sat her down on an elevated area within eyesight of her nest. Once she heard her family calling out to her, she flew off gracefully into the marsh.

We are seeing an unusual uptick in shorebird admissions. Our sick shorebird season doesn’t typically start until the first cold snap, and we suspect this is a sign that we have a busy winter ahead of us. We need to stock our freezers with fish in preparation and appreciate any donations. We can always accept any fish (aside from pufferfish and the like) that is 12” or smaller. We need fish in its whole, natural form and cannot accept only spines/heads or scraps. Most of these birds swallow their fish whole and need to see the eyes and tail to recognize it as food.

Donations can be dropped off anytime on our front porch at 3600 Lynn Ave. in Castle Hayne. We have a designated cooler that is checked frequently.

10/21/2026

With fall migration well underway, we are receiving A LOT of birds daily who have hit windows, including this Belted Kingfisher.

If a bird has hit yours before, this kingfisher asks you to please be mindful and properly treat the window to prevent it from happening again. While you may think of cities when it comes to window strikes, a significant amount actually happens at homes. Birds do not understand that a window is a dead end, only seeing the open space reflected in it. But you can signal that to them by applying decals, markings, or tape to the glass. To be effective, whatever you use has to have no more than 2” of space between and must cover the entire outside of the window (we have a helpful how-to article linked in the comments).

If you watch a bird hit a window or find a bird immobile beneath one, please bring it in to us. Birds can sustain detached retinas, ruptured air sacks, broken beaks, brain or spinal swelling, and more in collisions. Some injuries are not visible to the naked eye or take hours to truly show. Even if a bird seemingly “recovers,” it will likely decline again later and die without treatment.

A majority of the window strike victims we are admitting are insectivores, or birds who mainly eat bugs. We would appreciate any donations of live bugs to help us feed these birds while they heal. You can find their favorites listed on our Amazon Wishlist at: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1FO2ABY8R82NN. Simply select the item(s) you wish to donate, enter our shipping address below, and your donation will be sent right to the rescue.

Donations can be dropped off or shipped to 3600 Lynn Ave., Castle Hayne, NC 28429 anytime.

10/14/2026

We recently took in a flock of Kaporos survivors.

Kaporos is a religious custom practiced by some sects of Orthodox Judaism ahead of the Day of Atonement. This entails a person saying a prayer and swinging a chicken over their head, then passing it to a kosher slaughterer, who cuts the chicken’s throat. The belief is that the sins of the human are transferred into the chicken and die with the chicken, absolving the person of their sins. This practice has faced animal cruelty controversies for years, and there has been a push for people to use money instead of animals.

Thousands of chickens are slaughtered on the sidewalks of New York each year, and the meat is traditionally supposed to be used for the day’s meals or donated to charity. Rescuers, however, continuously witness firsthand the chickens being bagged up and thrown in dumpsters—some still alive when this happens. This year, two U-Haul trucks filled with chickens were abandoned on the side of the road, leaving birds to die inside.

Rescuers scramble every year to rescue and place hundreds of leftover and surviving chickens. These are the lucky ones who weren’t used, or were used but didn’t die when their throats were cut, or were still alive when they were bagged up. When animal protection laws contradict freedom of religion, animals always lose.

This puts a strain on rescues across the country who offer placement for these chickens. Any intake of a flock like this further increases our weekly grain bill, our biggest expense throughout the year—but we have to do our part to help. We sincerely appreciate donations of grain to support their care and second chance. As always, our current grain and seed needs are listed on our Amazon Wishlist at amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2DV5A73S6S6C1. Donations can be dropped off or shipped to 3600 Lynn Ave., Castle Hayne, NC 28429 anytime.

10/13/2026

As a reminder, our patient update policy is as follows. Thank you for your understanding.

Address

3600 Lynn Avenue
Castle Hayne, NC
28429

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 7pm
Tuesday	10am - 7pm
Wednesday	10am - 7pm
Thursday	10am - 7pm
Friday	10am - 7pm
Saturday	10am - 7pm
Sunday	10am - 7pm

Telephone

(855) 407-3728

Website

http://linktr.ee/skywatchbirds

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Skywatch Bird Rescue posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.