Your Colleagues

Summer Hours: Eileen McIlhagga feeds the birds and bunnies at the SPCA

Zoom image: A choir of starlings squawk, demanding food as fast as Eileen McIlhagga can serve it up. They are fed “baby bird bug batter.” A choir of starlings squawk, demanding food as fast as Eileen McIlhagga can serve it up. They are fed “baby bird bug batter.”

A choir of starlings squawk, demanding food as fast as Eileen McIlhagga can serve it up. They are fed “baby bird bug batter.”

Photos and text by MEREDITH FORREST KULWICKI

Published July 15, 2022

Editor's note: Summer Hours is a photo series focusing on UB staff members who use the longer days to pursue interesting hobbies, causes and other endeavors outside of their day jobs.

It’s time to feed the baby birds. Again.

SPCA wildlife volunteer Eileen McIlhagga, the business reporting manager for the School of Dental Medicine, opens the zipper to a chorus of bird calls, loudly demanding food. She restarts the timer, measuring off just 30 minutes until the next feeding starts again.

“They don’t have their mom anymore and they need to be taken care of,” McIlhagga says. “Basically, whatever mom would do for them, we have to do now.”

The birds are fed “baby bird bug batter” from paint brushes until they can take mealworms. Each needs to be hand-fed.

Zoom image: A baby robin stretches for a paint brush delivering food. The baby birds are fed every 30 minutes. A baby robin stretches for a paint brush delivering food. The baby birds are fed every 30 minutes.

A baby robin stretches for a paint brush delivering food. The baby birds are fed every 30 minutes.

Zoom image: A baby woodpecker (right) waits for food while a starling is fed. A baby woodpecker (right) waits for food while a starling is fed.
Zoom image: John Lattimer, veterinary technician and licensed wildlife rehabilitator, shares an X-ray of a bird’s broken wing. This bird had too many injuries to be helped by the team. John Lattimer, veterinary technician and licensed wildlife rehabilitator, shares an X-ray of a bird’s broken wing. This bird had too many injuries to be helped by the team.
Zoom image: Blue jays are kept in a larger enclosure but are still hand-fed with a paint brush. Blue jays are kept in a larger enclosure but are still hand-fed with a paint brush.
Zoom image: SPCA staff member Valerie “Val” Villazon (left) and McIlhaggga talk in the baby bird room. Villazon has been with the SPCA for about 10 years and helps McIlhagga with questions and tasks throughout the volunteer’s shift. SPCA staff member Valerie “Val” Villazon (left) and McIlhaggga talk in the baby bird room. Villazon has been with the SPCA for about 10 years and helps McIlhagga with questions and tasks throughout the volunteer’s shift.

SPCA staff member Valerie “Val” Villazon (left) and McIlhaggga talk in the baby bird room. Villazon has been with the SPCA for about 10 years and helps McIlhagga with questions and tasks throughout the volunteer’s shift.

There is no typical day as a volunteer in the Wildlife Department at the SPCA Serving Erie County in West Seneca, according to McIlhagga, who started volunteering in February 2022. She has worked with a variety of songbirds, squirrels, opossums, snapping turtles, geese, ducks, hawks and more. Her favorite is working in the baby mammal room, taking care of the bunnies.

“They are really cute and fuzzy,” McIlhagga says with a smile.

The tiniest bunnies need to eat through a feeding tube. Placing the tube can be tricky; you have to guide the tube to their stomach and not down the trachea. It’s a job not many volunteers are willing to take on, but McIlhagga says she thrives on it.

“It’s kind of scary, but really exciting when I know that they’ve each been fed,” she says. The process starts with McIlhagga making a “bunny burrito” by wrapping the wiggling baby in a receiving blanket, tucking in their legs. She coaches them, whispering “come on” and “you can do this” throughout the feeding process.    

Zoom image: Working in the small mammal room is McIlhagga’s favorite task with the SPCA's Wildlife Department. Working in the small mammal room is McIlhagga’s favorite task with the SPCA's Wildlife Department.

Working in the small mammal room is McIlhagga’s favorite task with the SPCA's Wildlife Department.

Zoom image: McIlhagga scoops from a tub filled with mealworms in the SPCA kitchen. The mealworms also need care. There are sliced apples for food and a towel for moisture in the container. McIlhagga scoops from a tub filled with mealworms in the SPCA kitchen. The mealworms also need care. There are sliced apples for food and a towel for moisture in the container.
Zoom image: A colony of baby cottontail bunnies cuddles together in a hand-knit basket.   A colony of baby cottontail bunnies cuddles together in a hand-knit basket.  
Zoom image: Bunnies are the single largest group of animals that receive care at the SPCA Wildlife Department. Bunnies are the single largest group of animals that receive care at the SPCA Wildlife Department.
Zoom image: The smallest bunnies are tube-fed a special formula. McIlhagga is one of the few volunteers who enjoys this task. The smallest bunnies are tube-fed a special formula. McIlhagga is one of the few volunteers who enjoys this task.

The smallest bunnies are tube-fed a special formula. McIlhagga is one of the few volunteers who enjoys this task.

The SPCA’s Wildlife Department helps approximately 4,000 animals annually, according to John Lattimer, veterinary technician, licensed wildlife rehabilitator and founder of the department. In the summer months, staff can see as many as 30 to 50 new animals daily. He praises McIlhagga as one of their “best bunny tubers.”

“She’s turned out to be an awesome volunteer, always available when we need help,” Lattimer says. “She’s caught on very quickly, and you can see how much there is to learn.”

In the coming months, McIlhagga hopes to complete the steps needed to become a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. She has finished the coursework and test, but is still waiting for an interview with the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Her volunteer hours are part of her efforts to eventually work as a seasonal employee with the SPCA.

Zoom image: A snapping turtle is weighed about twice a week. This one, a mama carrying 25 eggs, suffered a fractured hind leg. A snapping turtle is weighed about twice a week. This one, a mama carrying 25 eggs, suffered a fractured hind leg.
Zoom image: McIlhagga sees a wide variety of animals at the SPCA Wildlife Department. This is a diamondback terrapin. McIlhagga sees a wide variety of animals at the SPCA Wildlife Department. This is a diamondback terrapin.
Zoom image: Two whiteboards track the animals currently under care at the center, including tasks such as weighing animals and giving medication. McIlhagga adds a note. Two whiteboards track the animals currently under care at the center, including tasks such as weighing animals and giving medication. McIlhagga adds a note.
Zoom image: A flat-tailed flying squirrel came to the center with head trauma. He was going home with one of the employees for foster care to aid in his recovery. A flat-tailed flying squirrel came to the center with head trauma. He was going home with one of the employees for foster care to aid in his recovery.

A flat-tailed flying squirrel came to the center with head trauma. He was going home with one of the employees for foster care to aid in his recovery.

Although she doesn’t see many of the animals released back into the wild, McIlhagga says it’s nice when she returns each shift to a different collection of animals.

“It’s nice to know when you come back the next week, if somebody is gone, to know that you made a positive impact on them being successful.”

UB alumna Eileen McIlhagga, BS ‘92 and MBA ’94, has worked for the School of Dental Medicine for 25 years. She has eight pets at home and opted to work with wildlife as a compromise with her husband: “[He] said that it would be too much of a temptation for me to bring more dogs and cats home.”

Editor’s note: UBNow is looking for faculty and staff members who pursue interesting hobbies, causes and other endeavors outside of their day jobs. Contact University Communications photographer Meredith Forrest Kulwicki.