The Coachella Valley Wildbird Center- Mother Nature’s helping hand

Hidden away, in the wide open and nestled on land provided by the Valley Sanitary District in Indio sits the Coachella Valley Wild Bird Center.. A little known sanctuary for sick, injured and orphaned native wild birds.

Linda York Executive Director for the CVWBC tells us more about the organization she and her family founded almost thirty years ago… “Our main purpose is to get them back out in nature. A lot of times they are just nerdy little teenagers that either fell from the nest and people find them or they leave the nest and people find them.”

The non-profit center originated in the York family home in 1986. It was formed out of a need. Linda had been volunteering at the Living Desert but they didn’t do raptor rehab. Instead the birds were being sent to San Diego or Riverside. This upset York, as she said, “it bugged me!” The birds were being sent out for rehab but not returning to the Coachella Valley.

Now the Living Desert, along with various cities’ Animal Control, Riverside County Animal Control, Cal Fish & Wildlife, the US Fish and Wildlife and the public all bring birds to the Coachella Valley Wild Bird Center for care.

According to Linda,”In a single year we can do between seventy-eighty-ninety different species. Last year was right at about 800 birds. We’ve done as many as 15-hundred birds in a year.”

It’s no surprise The York family residence eventually was too small to handle the demand. Since 1995 the Center has been operating at their current location on Van Buren Street off Golf Center Parkway in Indio.

Visits to the the Center can be educational or just for the thrill of bird watching!

Birds of all sizes and kinds can be found at the Center. There are many types of owls but hummingbirds, quail, ducks and hawks are all currently calling CVWBC home.

Many birds that come to the Center are only there temporarily. Perhaps they’ve flown into a window or fell from a nest. York and her team of approximately 24 volunteers nurse the birds until they are ready to “fly the coop” and get back into the wild.

York emphasizes the birds are never treated like pets, in fact wild birds she says don’t like to be touched or cuddled.

Often well intended people will handle a wild bird too much… “People meant well but they kept them. They found it when it was a baby and now the bird really doesn’t know it’s a barn owl or a burrowing owl and can never go back in the wild again…they would not survive so we use them for education.”

Some birds are now permanent residents because they are imprints or disabled. The Center survives on donations from generous people. They don’t receive grants and no one gets paid.

If you would like to visit the Coachella Valley Wildbird Center, it is open daily from 8am-noon except major holidays. It is FREE but donations are appreciated. And if you would like to volunteer and are 14 yr-and older there is always a need with on the job training included. Call (760)775-2299 www.coachellawildbirdscenter.org