Finding a nest of baby Robins on her porch with the mother killed by a stray cat, Ashley Kolnowski drove two hours to St. Helen’s Association to Rescue Kritters (A.R.K.) – the closest bird rehabilitation center to Alpena.
There, Kolnowski fell in love with the facility and the idea of Alpena having its own specialized bird rehabilitation center to “help our locals stay local,” she said.
Three years later, in 2023, Kolnowski founded ABC Alpena’s Bird Center – the city’s first bird rehabilitation clinic – stationed in her own home.
“I guess I've always just been an animal lover, and really just wanted to help animals,” she said. “And no, I didn't really think I would be opening a bird center. But after seeing the A.R.K. Center, and knowing that no one around here does it, that's what really drove me to get this started.”
After visiting A.R.K., Kolnowski started out in 2020 as a subpermittee for two years. She assisted a local rehabber in caring for birds and was trained in how to do so as well as given the proper equipment. Last year, she ended up taking in a total of 67 birds.
“I learned a lot, you know, sometimes you mess up; sometimes good things happen,” she said.
As Kolnowski tackles the work of a rehabilitator, she is also responsible for 22 kindergartners at Alcona Elementary School – hence the play on “ABC” for the clinic's title. Her classroom displays birds of all kinds from the rugs on the floors to the owl breed labeled tables. Sitting on one of the windowsills is a bird feeder for the children to watch.
Not only are the kiddos learning their ABC’s, but also the importance of birds and their own effects on the ecosystem, Kolnowski said.
Even though she enjoys what she does, Kolnowski said it can “definitely be a tricky balance” when it comes to her bird center and teaching kindergarteners.
A day in the life of a bird rehabilitator
There are three stages to the bird rehabilitation process. The first part is intensive care where an initial physical exam is done, and medications and treatments are prescribed. Kolnowski said this is when it is important to monitor and limit the bird’s movement.
The next stage is being moved into a restrictive environment, Kolnowski said. This means the bird is put in a slightly bigger cage so they can start gaining wing strength. Then the bird will eventually be ready for the flight cage, which is the last step before being released to the wild.
“We … need to watch it and make sure that it's flying properly,” she said. “Because if it's not flying properly, then we're just basically throwing it to the wolves and not doing it justice.”
Before leaving for work, Kolnowski medicates all the domestic and wild birds in her care and lets the domestic birds out of their cage to spread their wings. When she returns in the evening, Kolnowski begins her second round of medication for the birds as well as giving them water and food.
“… I'm thankful for having summers off,” she said. “Because having summers off [means] I'm able to take in more birds ... But during the springtime … I just do the best I can I try to reach out to subpermittees that can help me with taking in birds while I'm working.”
Currently, Kolnowski has one subpermittee helping her.
“It can be overwhelming,” she said. “I honestly have set limits for myself, like, I'm not going to overdo it. Because the more animals I take in, the less I can care for them.”
“I am looking for anybody that's interested in birds that wants to learn more, because I would absolutely love to have some extra help having [them] as a subpermittee,” she said.
With Kolnowski’s busy schedule, she said it is helpful when people bring the animal to her since she is caring for other animals as well.
She advises people to call her before taking a bird out of the wild.
“I mean if it's clearly injured and you can see blood or things like that, then obviously capture it right away,” Kolnowski said. “But if it's like a little fledgling on the ground, maybe send me a picture so I can see it and verify if it needs help or not.
“Sometimes, they're just being a little bird on the ground like they're supposed to do. We want to keep them with their parents if we can or keep them in the wild if we can.”
When capturing a bird, gently grab it with a towel or cloth and put it in a box or carrier with an external heat source, Kolnowski said. Filling up a water bottle with hot water and placing it inside the carrier will help reduce stress for the bird.
Whenever Kolnowski cannot take in a bird she will refer the individual that brought the bird to another licensed rehabber. She is also permitted to network for other wild animals. Kolnowski said if anyone finds a mammal that is injured, she can help direct them to the right person as well.
On Michigan’s DNR website, Kolnowski said there is a list of wildlife rehabilitators, including herself, listed by county. She can contact them and get the help the animal needs.
“It's very important to have other people that are doing the same thing you are,” she said. “… [T]hat community building is very important.”
However, there are also times when there is nothing the rehabber can do. This usually means the next best option is euthanasia to avoid any further suffering on the bird’s part.
“I euthanize more than I save,” Kolnowski said.
Since starting up her bird center, Kolnowski has taken in 31 domestic and wild birds. Currently, she is caring for seven birds and has successfully released eight birds out of the 31. Doubling that number, Kolnowski has had 16 birds either die or have to be euthanized.
“It's just good to know that they're not suffering, I guess that's the main part,” she said. “Not a lot of people are okay with it. Not a lot of people like it, but you can't save them (birds).”
Kolnowski said she has seen instances of people in Michigan hitting herring gulls with their car on purpose and as a result the bird will have a broken wing. This means they are not able to migrate south for the winter.
“If we can't fix a broken wing, then we have to euthanize because … they can't live happily,” she said. “We want quality of life for the animals that are returning to the wild and … you want to make sure they're completely able to survive…”
Growing up on a farm all her life, Kolnowski said it has taught her to be resilient and learn how to carry on.
How does she move on exactly? She said by staying busy taking in more birds she can bring a happy ending to.
“Being able to open the release cage and let them fly back into the wild, it's the best feeling that you could ever imagine,” Kolnowski said. “[It] has just been true joy, honestly, to know that I saved it, and it's free being the wild bird it needs to be. So that's, that's really what keeps me driven.”
The most birds Kolnowski has had at once is 15 – part of that number being nests where there are three to five babies. On top of the birds she cares for, Kolnowski owns six domestic birds, 58 chickens and 16 ducks.
“Some of the chickens will come up on my shoulder [to hang] out with me, because I've raised them since they were little babies,” she said. “Most of the chickens here are either ones that I've raised, or I've rescued from people that couldn't care for them anymore.”
When asked what she does in her free time, Kolnowski said she spends it with her birds.
“I love hanging out with my birds,” she said. “…I always have a bird on my shoulder when I’m home.”
Flying on a budget
The bird center accepts donations every time a bird is brought in. Out of the 31 birds Kolnowski has had in her care, three people have donated a little over $100 in total.
“I've been doing a lot out of my pocket to get this up and running,” she said.
Kolnowski has been paying for the veterinarian bills, medication, food for every bird species she cares for and housing materials.
She and her husband have been working on a raptor flight cage for hawks, falcons and bald eagles. They have received over $1,000 in donations for the $5,000 project on Kolnowski’s GoFundMe.
Additionally, the bird center accepts bottles and cans as well as venmo and paypal donations made out to Alpena’s Bird Center or Ashley Kolnowski.
Kolnowski said she recently submitted her application as a non-profit in order to be eligible for grants as well as tax deductions for those that donate.
However, the support that Kolnowski has received is something that cannot be bought.
Facebook posts from locals scatter Kolnowski’s personal page recognizing the work she does and their appreciation for it.
Libbie Parks posted a few paragraphs summing Kolnowski’s current situation with funding and how the bird center is a “very underappreciated cause,” she said.
“I’d really like to see this post gain her center some new followers and hopefully some donations to help cover her recent expenses of additional housing, medical care and food,” Parks said.
Pamela Vroon said in a post her husband found a hawk near Hubbard Lake that was hit by a car recently.
“I immediately thought of Ashley Kolnowski and gave her a call, she took the hawk in, and he made it through the night!” Vroon said. “Thank you for all you do! He wouldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for you!”
In another post, Valorie Lorie Kinney Haneckow said she is “so thankful we have Alpena’s Bird Center and Ashley Kolnowski!”.
Misconceptions proven fatal for bird populations
First and foremost, Kolnowski said wild animals should not interact with the public. Her objective as a rehabilitator is to return them to the wild. Therefore, it is important to avoid imprinting the birds with human contact, especially in terms of being a resource for food.
Additionally, as a rehabber, Kolnowski said it is important for people to realize that she returns the birds to where they were originally found. Whereas people may not realize a bird has its own area they call home and may release them at random.
Some of our local bird populations are declining quickly, Kolnowski said. This is due to people cutting down trees, birds flying into windows and cat attacks.
“Being able to save birds is important,” she said. “I mean, hummingbirds help with pollinating. You know, our flowers and all the things of that nature. Nature is very important. And our birds are part of that nature.
“…[O]bviously, we're not able to save them all. But if we can save a few and help reduce the number of birds that are being killed from human interferences, I think we're doing a good job.”
Kolnowski said people can prevent birds flying into windows by putting things on them such as decorative stickers. When spotting a bird after a window strike or being hit by a car it is important to immediately call a rehabber.
“The old wives tale is to leave them in a box and let them recuperate and then let them go,” she said. “However, rehabbers have noticed that 24 hours after a window strike or even getting hit by a car, there's more internal damage that happens.
“And if we just let them go without helping them, then most of them end up dying anyway.”
She said even if people think the bird is okay, rehabbers can at least monitor it for 24 hours, and then release it back to where it was found.
Kolnowski repeatedly expressed the importance of keeping cats indoors. If a bird is bitten by a cat, it is fatal. She said if the bird doesn’t receive antibiotics in 24 hours it will die from the bacteria left by the cat’s mouth.
“Cats don't normally eat birds because of all the feathers,” Kolnowski said. “They kind of just play with them and leave our little fledgling birds, which are birds that are feathered [and] ready to leave the nest but haven't learned how to fly yet. They spend anywhere from a couple of days to 10 days on the ground.
“And if there's cats outside and the birds are trying to learn how to fly, then they end up dying because of the cat rate.”
According to Central Michigan Life, when spring is here, so is kitten season. This is when populations are at their highest. Michigan Humane has found that it is not unusual to care for 500 to 800 animals in the spring.
In the article, Amanda Tillotson, executive director of the Humane Animal Treatment Society (HATS), said cat overpopulation is an ongoing battle. It is not a new crisis, or a problem that can be solved overnight. The best way to manage this ongoing issue is through spaying and neutering cats.
On top of caring for birds and five-year-olds, Kolnowski is a volunteer for a local Trap and Neuter program to help decrease the cat overpopulation issue.
The technicalities of being a licensed bird rehabber
After completing 100 hours of training at the A.R.K., Kolnowski received her permit from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The DNR must inspect and ensure permittees have the proper caging before allowing rehabbers to get started.
Kolnowski said most rehabbers do their work at home, therefore, she needed to put together the caging herself – with the help of her hubby.
The couple crafted a mini farm in their backyard with a chicken coop hidden by the foliage of trees next to their garage and a homemade wooden flight cage pushed further back. Their current project is the raptor flight cage which sits beyond the garage towering with the trees and the smell of lilacs wafting through the air.
While it is necessary to have the proper caging as a rehabber, it is also required that every rehabber has a vet to work with for surgery and medical checkups. Kolnowski works with a local veterinarian she has known for years since she grew up in the area.
The DNR permits Kolnowski to work with state and migratory birds. The migratory bird permit is through the Federal Fish and Wildlife which covers any birds migrating from the south to Michigan.
The state permit, Kolnowski said, covers any birds that live here such as local hawks and owls. Currently, she is unable to care for eagles due to her raptor flight cage being unfinished, but once it is finalized, she will be able to rehab all birds.
As mentioned previously, Kolnowski completely advises against the public interacting with wild animals. This is the standard when it comes to being permitted by the DNR. When asked whether she has developed bonds with any of the birds, she said yes and no.
“They learn to trust you after a little bit … But our ultimate goal is to release them back to the wild,” she said. “We don't want to go stare at them all the time or go touch them. We just … give them their basic needs and walk away.”
Soaring into the future
Kolnowski said her big goal is to eventually run the bird center in a facility rather than her home. She knows it will take some time and funding, but having her own facility would mean more cages to care for more birds.
Additionally, Kolnowski said it would allow room for more subpermittees to come over and care for birds if they do not have their own proper enclosures.
“We could definitely do a lot more with it,” she said.
Kolnowski has got her eye on an education permit sometime in the future as well. She said this would allow her to keep birds that are not releasable.
“So that way they would at least have a caring home because there's not too many people that have education permits,” Kolnowski said.