As we begin the New Year, we want to take a moment to reflect on the year just ended—and to thank all of you for being such amazing partners!
Just before Thanksgiving, our year-end appeal letter officially kicked off our biggest funding effort of the year. And on Giving Tuesday, the Team Ops / Team Build Challenge Match began. In the weeks that followed, we were continually amazed—and gratified—by your generosity.
By December 31st, just six weeks later, you had collectively contributed almost HALF A MILLION DOLLARS to BRC, not only supporting the ongoing campaign to build our new facility, but also ensuring the continuation of our daily life-saving work. Team Ops, Team Build and BRC all came up winners! More importantly, the birds we care for will reap the benefits of your kindness and support.
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much!
2023 Year In Review
We received close to 2,000 birds in 2023—1,980 to be exact. Slightly less than our normal number of intakes, we suspect this was due in part to the ravages of HPAI on our local avian community. Still, we were able to provide a LOT of birds with second chances at life in the wild. Below are some interesting tidbits:
126 different species treated.
Most common species: Anna's Hummingbirds, American Crows, House Finches, California Towhees and California Quail.
Rarest species: a Purple Martin - a species first for BRC!
Highest number of patients in the hospital at any one time: 266 - that's a lot of hungry mouths to feed!
Patients arrived from Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino, Marin and Napa counties, and once from as far away as Calaveras County.
Despite HPAI, we maintained a success rate of 80% for patients who survived their first 24 hours in care.
Close to 50% of our patients came in because of injuries or displacements directly related to human activity.
2023 was another busy year with mounting challenges stemming from HPAI, however it was marked by incredible support from our extended BRC family.