I had quite a busy day today. ‘Brazen’ and the younger chick were taken to a co-ordinators place, where ‘Brazen’ could be put into an aviary to learn to forage properly (as he wasn’t eating enough live food and was at risk of taking off without really knowing how to survive). The younger was put with others of his own age. ‘Brazen’ needed to be put into an aviary, and be with other magpies, while I wasn’t comfortable having the younger here on his own as it looked like he was starting to bond with the older and was best being in the company of other birds. We like to crèche young animals as much as possible. This helps them learn to behave as they should and create colonies.
Had basically just walked in the door from getting home from an appointment, when the phone rang; another call-out for Fauna Rescue. A kid had picked up a magpie, and then it had flown out of his hands and into the garage door. They, too, had spotted a white duck with what they thought was an injured wing.
Mum, dad and I all went, as a duck would be hard to catch, unless it was seriously injured. We collected the magpie and the kids there told us where the duck was, and that it was in the water. It was a Pekin duck, and it didn’t seem to be too injured. In fact, it got into the water and swam around and ruffled its wings, as if wondering who we were and what we were doing staring at it.
The magpie seemed fine to me. The girl that had been holding it had already spoken of its strong grip (which is always a good sign), and it seemed alert though quiet. It also seemed fairly young, maybe about ‘Brazen’s’ age; its beak was mostly black, and the tips of its wings reached the end of its tail feathers. It also had a bit of brown in its grey on the back. As a precaution, however, we took it to the Animal Hospital, and they checked it out at the front desk with us there. All was fine, and we were told that it was probable that it had only just started to fly, and that’s how the kids got a hold of it, because young birds learning to fly often find themselves on the ground, and are much quieter than the adults (hence the reason why it was barely struggling).
We were hesitant of just taking it back and letting it go again, as there was the risk that this would happen all over again; the bird would try to fly and end up being picked up and cuddled by kids, or worse- caught by a dog or cat. So it was decided that the bird would stay at the hospital until a carer could come and pick it up, as we don’t have the room to look after a bird that is starting to fly.
As I have no magpies to look after for now, I can now have a break. Unless, of course, I receive one during a call-out over the next few days. Or until Monday, when we pick up three chicks from the co-ordinator to help her with her load; the magpie breeding season has barely begun, and already we are receiving many calls to come pick up young magpies. As the Carer we took the magpies to said today. “They’re getting smaller as they come in”.
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