Latest News

27th June 2022

Despite Bird Flu restrictions being lifted nationally on 2nd May, there have been continued outbreaks across the country which Defra is monitoring. The South Coast in particular has had significant outbreaks, with dead gulls and waterfowl found along the South Coast confirmed with Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1.

Please keep an eye on the Defra website and because Defra take time to confirm and update their lists, also keep an eye on your local fb groups for information and updates.

If you are close to an area of outbreaks, keep your companion birds inside or under cover to keep them safe. If you have outdoor birds please make sure you use a bowl with the F10CL (green) before entering / exiting their enclosures and before entering your house. Defra won’t think twice about culling birds to stop the spread. So don’t take any risks and keep your birds safe.

10th June 2021

With Lockdown easing and Homechecks now resuming, we are in the process of catching up so please bear with us.

We are currently clearing out our safehouses of birds who will be going to their forever homes and then we can hopefully open our doors soon to more birds needing our help.

We would like to thank our members for their patience during these difficult times and our volunteers for helping to catch up with the backlog of Homechecks.

Precautions will still be taken to keep our members and volunteers safe.

We are currently doing the Homecheck paperwork over the phone prior to the visual Homechecks to limit the time spent at perspective Foster/Safehouse homes. Volunteers will still be wearing masks when entering the property or outside if asked to by the member. We will be keeping the 2 metres distance rule. This will continue until advised otherwise following government guidelines.

We have updated our website and have now restored full functionality and up to date content. Any feedback that you feel we could improve on is always welcome.


15th December 2020

Unfortunately, the Birdline.Co.Uk website was taken offline on 17th November 2020, this was due to an issue at our hosting company managed.com.  Because the site had been offline for over 3 weeks, we took the decision to rebuild it from a backup version we held, rather than wait any longer, recognising the importance the site has to both our members and the charity.

The site is now in a functional state again and we are pleased to welcome everyone back, but this work will continue over the next few weeks to restore full functionality and up to date content, and we ask all our members and supporters to please bear with us while this work is being done.

Note to members

All being well your membership status will be correct, but if for some reason this is not the case please do contact us straight away via the ‘Contact Us’ page.


2nd December 2020 – Covid update

The Covid restrictions continue to have a severe impact on Birdline’s services. Particularly with our ability to undertaken homechecks. Whilst animal rescue charities are classed as key workers and are able to carry out normal duties, we must continue to consider the risk to our volunteers and members. A limited amount of homechecks will now be taking place, depending on the Tier level, health and well being of the volunteer and the urgency of approving the placement.

Please do continue to bear with us in this difficult time. We are trying our best to continue rehoming our birds with their perfect forever homes. Current timescale from application to foster are approximately three to four months.


Tuesday 17th March 2020 – Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Birdline depends on a network of volunteers, safehouses and members across England, Scotland and Wales. We have no permanent base and regularly transport birds nationwide. The Covid-19 pandemic has obvious implications for Birdline and its ability to continue this model of working in the short-term.

As of 16th March 2020, the government has significantly changed its advice with regards to Covid-19 and all non-essential travel and contact should now be avoided.

In order to safeguard our volunteers, our members and the wider community, we will be postponing non-essential activities such as home checks and events until such time as the government advice changes again. Imminent planned bird moves will still go ahead over the next few days, but your Area Managers will be contacting you to confirm or postpone appointments.

Birdline’s primary role is to provide a home for parrots in need. Sadly, we can foresee this need growing during the current pandemic; where owners are severely ill and their parrots need to be rehomed either temporarily or permanently. Therefore, we are not closing our doors to new intake entirely. We will instead, continue to assess our capacity and the urgency of the situation on a case by case basis. Part of this decision-making process will include the availability of and risk to our volunteers and their families. We may put in place extra precautions such as additional use of alcohol-based hand gel, avoiding handshakes, the use of PPE and curb side collections. Our volunteers have been advised of these potential changes in protocols.

Covid-19 and Parrots

There is no evidence to suggest that parrots can either be carriers of Coronavirus or become ill from it and no scientific advice has been issued.  However, your pets may be impacted if you or any members of your family test positive for the virus, or if you are asked to stay at home and self-isolate. We therefore recommend you take the following sensible precautions, and to seek medical expertise if necessary.

Prevention

  • Government guidance is to wash hands for twenty seconds on a regular basis, and we advise you to do so before and after handling your parrot(s), their food, water and droppings.
  • Avoid kissing or sharing food with your parrot(s). 
  • Ensure you have extra supplies of medication and food for your parrot(s) in case you need to enter self-isolation. Consider making and freezing chop now, so you have a steady supply.
  • Avoid taking your parrot(s) outside with you (unless you are going to a vet). 
  • If you have to self-isolate, your parrot(s) will be delighted to spend more time with you. However, if you are suffering symptoms of the virus it would be sensible to ask another member of the household to care for their day to day needs.
  • If you are likely to be hospitalised and have no one to care for your parrot and have tried all other possibilities, please contact your area manager or the helpline ASAP. 

We wish to take this opportunity to thank our members for their understanding and patience during these difficult times.

We also wish to thank all our volunteers for the amazing work they do. They will not be sitting on their laurels – our contact lines are still open, advice will still be given; phone interviews will still take place, and as always, we will be active on social media – particularly our Facebook page and group. Our volunteers will be developing new ways of fundraising to replace the event income we may have to forgo this year and we particularly welcome your suggestions and contribution in this area!


23rd July 2019 – Notice of Breech of security to Personal Information

For more information click here.