Lyn Macdonald helps an injured penguin get back on its feet at her Green Bay home. Photo / Martin Sykes
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Penguins caught in boat propellers, wings sliced by fish hooks and bits of plastic lodged in beaks are just some of the grisly things that the "Bird Lady" has dealt with over the years.
Lyn Macdonald, of Green Bay in West Auckland, is affectionately known as her area's Bird Lady.
When her children began coming home from school with injured birds more than 20 years ago, the mother of five started to take care of them.
"I've always looked after animals - when I was young my parents used to own boarding kennels and we used to look after the SPCA animals as well. It's just something I've always done - and enjoyed," Ms Macdonald said.
After working voluntarily for the last two decades, she has just been given her first pay cheque, working for the New Zealand Bird Rescue Charitable Trust, as a wildlife rehabilitator.
Ms Macdonald treats sick and injured birds. A pair of penguins that were brought in had been injured after being caught in a propeller, while a duck had a piece of plastic holding its tongue down.
Ms Macdonald said many people did not seem to care about birds - an attitude she has been trying to change.
"A lot of people are too busy these days, too busy to stop for a duck on the road and just running right [over] it," she said.
"It takes all kinds to make a world doesn't it? But it would be nice to have people care."
Carolynn Tindell, who was first introduced to Ms Macdonald when she took an injured bird to see her, said she nominated her because she was doing something most people wouldn't think twice about.
"If it wasn't for people like her, who would look after these birds? Other people just couldn't care less," Mrs Tindell said.
