Bird Center of Michigan

Bird Center of Michigan The Bird Center of Michigan is committed to aiding birds, wildlife, and the environment through rehabilitation and public education.
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If you have found an injured or orphaned bird, please text a photo of the bird, your county location, and a BRIEF description of the situation to 734.761.9640. Please do not bring a bird to the Bird Center without speaking to a staff member first. If you have found a baby bird, please refer to the “Life Stages of Songbirds” chart on our website for instructions: https://birdcentermi.org/bird-help/. You can call the Bird Center at 734.761.9640 for tips on renesting, making a makeshift nest, or determining if the bird needs to be brought in for rehabilitation. NEVER offer a baby bird food or water. For non-emergencies, you can email our clinic staff at [email protected]. Please do not email if you have an injured or orphaned bird needing assistance. The Bird Center of Michigan strives to answer calls and texts right away. Please be patient if we do not answer your call right away, as we care for over 200 birds at a time during our busy baby season. We answer and respond to messages as fast as possible. While waiting for a response, please keep the bird in a box without any food or water. Do not attempt to give food or water to the bird. Do not release an injured bird.

One of our ambassador birds, Martha, whom some of you may have met at one of our many educational events, has recently l...
09/04/2026

One of our ambassador birds, Martha, whom some of you may have met at one of our many educational events, has recently laid an egg! This is natural behavior for female birds in captivity, even with no males of the same species around. Throughout the summer season, we do our best to provide all of our educational birds with enrichment such as nesting material to allow them to carry out their natural behaviors at this time of year. Even Clementine, our Baltimore Oriole, is frequently found weaving strings, dried grass, and hair together in multiple half-finished nests throughout her enclosure. Because spending time incubating eggs is natural to birds at this time of the year, her fresh egg will soon be swapped for a decoy to allow her to continue to guard and incubate without the threat of it breaking.

Five years ago today, the Bird Center of Michigan lost its beloved founder, Carol Akerlof.Carol’s vision began with some...
09/04/2026

Five years ago today, the Bird Center of Michigan lost its beloved founder, Carol Akerlof.

Carol’s vision began with something simple: a desire to help birds in need. What started with caring for injured and orphaned birds in her own home grew into the Bird Center of Washtenaw County in 2004 and ultimately into the Bird Center of Michigan we know today.

Her compassion, determination, and deep love for birds helped lay the foundation for an organization that continues to care for over two thousand injured and orphaned birds each year.

Five years later, Carol’s legacy can still be seen in every bird we care for, every volunteer and intern who helps wildlife, and every person who leaves with a greater understanding of the birds around them.

We are grateful for the vision Carol had and the lasting impact she made.

If you haven’t heard yet, fall migration is officially underway! Even though our nursery is still busy with late nesting...
09/01/2026

If you haven’t heard yet, fall migration is officially underway! Even though our nursery is still busy with late nesting species like American Goldfinches and Mourning Doves, select species around Michigan are beginning to make their trip South. With this in mind, limited use of outdoor lighting is becoming more and more important each day. An estimated 1,000,000,000+ birds die from building and window collisions in the U.S. each year, with artificial night lighting acting as a primary driver that disorients nocturnal migratory birds and lures them into fatal urban traps.

In order to protect birds during this vulnerable time, please consider taking part in Lights Out by turning off non-essential outdoor lighting from 11:00pm to 6:00am from August 15th until October 15th. In addition to mindful light usage, please keep an extra eye out for grounded songbirds in urban areas, and reach out to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator for further steps!

American Woodcocks, sometimes affectionately known as “timberdoodles,” are one of Michigan’s most unique species and one...
08/30/2026

American Woodcocks, sometimes affectionately known as “timberdoodles,” are one of Michigan’s most unique species and one that is often admitted to our center. Especially during migration and breeding seasons, American Woodcocks are prone to eye injuries and fractures as a result of collisions with windows. American Woodcocks are typically found in forested areas with shrubby fields nearby, but are in the same family as shorebirds such as various members of the Sandpiper, Knot, and Godwit families, with which they share their characteristic long, probing beak. When in care, we always make sure our Woodcock patients have plenty of long, delicious earthworms, of which they can consume up to their body weight per day!

A common, but often overlooked bird that breeds in many Michigan backyards is the humble Chipping Sparrow. With a distin...
08/28/2026

A common, but often overlooked bird that breeds in many Michigan backyards is the humble Chipping Sparrow. With a distinct, trilling call, they are the backdrop of many spring and summer afternoons. These two young Chipping Sparrows came to us as very young hatchlings with almost no distinctive features to identify them from other sparrows. Now, with tender care over the last 2-3 weeks, they have grown into spirited fledglings! As they grow older, we will provide them with various native plants and seeds so they can develop foraging patterns that will benefit them the most in the wild.

For this we are asking for donations of 24x24x36 mesh butterfly enclosures. These enclosures are lined with a soft mes...
08/26/2026

For this we are asking for donations of 24x24x36 mesh butterfly enclosures. These enclosures are lined with a soft mesh material, which is perfect for wild birds in rehab! This young meadowlark approves. It helps protect their feathers and prevent injuries that metal or plastic caging might cause.

Because they are constantly used at the Center, ours have grown quite worn and tattered, and we are in need of new ones. You can find these mesh enclosures on our Amazon wishlist at https://amzn.to/3ogNEFE

Thank you for your support!

08/25/2026

Some of our last ducks of the season have been released into the wild! These Mallards were with us for around six weeks before they were ready to go. After lots of practice in our inground pools, we knew they were ready for a big pond of their own! This flock will likely stick together for several weeks, helping each other forage for food and fend off threats before they fly off in pursuit of a mate in the fall. Until then, they will have plenty of fresh vegetation to nibble on while their final flight feathers grow in.

2026 has been a big year of growth for us! Since January first of this year, we have admitted well over two thousand bir...
08/23/2026

2026 has been a big year of growth for us! Since January first of this year, we have admitted well over two thousand birds, and we haven’t even hit fall migration yet. This is a significant increase from last year, which reflects how our clinic has been growing to accommodate more babies, adults, and more unique species. We are looking forward to helping more birds than ever this year, which we wouldn’t be able to do without the generous support of our donors, volunteers, and other team members.

Address

7800 Platt Road
Saline, MI
48176

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 6pm
Tuesday 9am - 6pm
Wednesday 9am - 6pm
Thursday 9am - 6pm
Friday 9am - 6pm
Saturday 9am - 6pm
Sunday 9am - 6pm

Telephone

+17347619640

Website

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