Orwell is a fledgling blackbird, who has been caught and injured by a cat. He suffered a puncture wound to his left wing as well as sprain injury of his left leg. Orwell has been treated accordingly, which did include a course of antibiotics to counteract a potentially fatal infection transmitted by the cat contact. Orwell settled in very quickly and was eager to be fed. A couple of days later blackbird Orwell has been moved from his hospital box into a much larger flexarium, which is a soft fabric indoor aviary, to allow him to exercise his wing and leg without damaging his developing plumage. The puncture wound to his wing healed very well. The mild paralysis of his leg, caused by the sprain injury, which did obviously involve soft tissues and femoral nerve, has also completely resolved.
Update – 26/08/2917
Today Orwell has been moved into our soft release outdoor aviary, as he is now independently feeding. Birds which have been in care for more than a few days should be reacclimatised by housing in an outside aviary for a period of time (generally about two weeks) before release. Fledglings also require an oppertunity to exercise to develop sufficient fitness prior to their release. The exposure to the elements will also encourage preening and ensure that the plumage is returned to normal waterproofing, which is important for any bird species. Orwell settled in very well into his new temporary home.
Update – 18/09/2017
Today blackbird Orwell has been successfully soft released. Stay safe Orwell!
Immanuel is an immature second year magpie, who has been observed being grounded in a garden for several days. Whilst being in hiding, Immanuel has been attacked by a cat, but luckily managed to escape. He has been eventually caught, when he was seeking shelter in a conservatory following the cat attack.
The admission assessment revealed no obvious injuries, but showed a loss of all tail feathers and severely damaged primaries and secondaries involving both wings rendering the bird being unable to fly. Immanuel has been treated prophylactically with antibiotics to prevent a potentially fatal infection caused by bugs transmitted by the cat. As the plumage has been found to be severely damaged, Immanuel needs to undergo a complete or post breeding moult, which is usually happening over the summer and is going to be completed by the end of September. This also means, that Immanuel needs to stay with us for almost half a year before being releasable.
Wild, and in particular adult wild magpies can be difficult patients, as they are often very nervous and easily excitable birds, who may have the tendency to harm themselves when being kept in captivity in a type of aviary, which doesn’t completely suit their needs. Sufficient shelter and hiding spaces are crucial to allow these birds to feel undisturbed and to relax in a captive environment. Magpies enjoy to cache their food items and need therefore suitable areas, where they can do so. It can be also sometimes difficult to introduce magpies into mixed species groups, as other corvid species are commonly reluctant to accept magpies amongst them. Although jackdaws are the most likely species to be tolerant enough to accept magpie company, it is more about the individual personalities than the species itself, as we had positive outcomes with jackdaws, crows, jays and rooks. Age and previous negative or positive experiences seem to play a role as well, as does the degree of maturity and the time of the year in respect of the breeding season. Generally speaking, mixed setups of this kind have to be closely monitored as they are prone to seemingly sudden change.
Update – 03/09/2017
Magpie Immanuel is doing well in his outdoor aviary, which he is sharing with magpie Kiri and jackdaws Benno and Kojak. He has moulted most of his primary and secondary feathers and has also regrown his tail feathers. The result looks promising and we are now hopeful that Immanuel can be released by the end of September, when his moult is completed.
Update – 23/09/2017
Today magpie Immanuel has been successfully soft released. Stay safe Immanuel!
Amaya is an immature female sparrowhawk, who suffered a severe impact trauma. She has been found unconscious after flying into a window, presumably whilst chasing her prey. Although she regained consciousness quickly, she was unable to fly off by her own. In cases like Amaya’s, where there was a witnessed loss of consciousness, it is strongly advised not to release the bird immediately, but to monitor the situation for at least 24 hours before even considering a release. In Amaya’s case, the admission assessment revealed typical signs of a severe concussion and a mild spinal contusion, but also a marked haematoma around her right shoulder girdle.
Sparrowhawks are very instinct driven bird, and as such will not learn quickly to adapt to new situations like being held captive. These birds react to stimuli without thinking, so one has to make sure that these birds cannot injure themselves whilst being in captivity. For this species specific reason, but also due to her brain injury, Amaya has been transferred immediately into a quit and slightly darkened hospital box, where she could rest undisturbed. This dark and quiet hospital box is very important for the recovery, as this can prevent convulsions induced by the trauma. If the bird is restless, it might also be sometimes necessary to apply a tail sheath or guard, which will be fitted to protect the tail feathers.
To get a sparrowhawk started on food can sometimes be difficult. Sparrowhawks seem to have a fairly set “idea” of what their food has to look like. Therefore these birds need usually to be force-fed to start with, which may include tube feeding of a specifically design liquid raptor diet, a step being particularly important during the acute phase of the disease. Luckily Amaya suffered only a mild concussion and recovered quickly. Against one’s expectations, she also adapted well to the new situation and accepted her first assisted feed the next morning.
Update – 30/08/2017
Amaya made a very good recovery from her traumatic injury to brain and spine. However, as she wasn’t using her bruised wing sufficiently enough to be released soon, the decision has been made to transfer her into the care of experienced falconer Charlie Rolle of South Coast Falconry, who has today kindly taken over her care and is providing a flight aviary, where Amaya can exercise and strengthen her flight muscles, before eventually being released. Thank you very much Charlie for your help and continued support!
Update – 07/09/2017
Today sparrowhawk Amaya has been successfully released. Stay safe Amaya!
Ali is an immature dunnock, who has been brought to us, after being caught by a cat. Ali has been admitted with severe shock symptoms and had to be stabilised before a full assessment could be made. It took nearly 24 hours for him to recover from the shock inflicted by the cat attack. The full assessment revealed several bruises, puncture wounds, lost tail feathers and a sprain injury of his right leg. Dunnock Ali has been treated for shock, pain, bruises and the potentially fatal pasteurella multocida infection caused by the cat attack. In this context it is important to understand, that all birds, in fact all animals, who have been caught by cats, have to be treated with antibiotics, even without showing any external signs of an injury. These animals will be otherwise killed by an overwhelming systemic infection or septicaemia, which would occur in birds within 72 hours post cat contact.
As Ali’s leg symptoms didn’t improve despite treatment for trauma and nerve injury, we decided to tape the foot to assist the healing process. Four days later the tape has been removed and a brief assessment showed the return of the full functionality of foot and leg. Ali has been kept a few days longer indoors in a so called flexarium, which is a soft fabric mesh indoor aviary allowing him to exercise safely without damaging his plumage further, which is a common but avoidable problem when active birds like him are being kept for rehabilitation in the wrong environment like a wire cage.
Update – 01/09/2017
Today dunnock Ali has been moved into a large communal outdoor soft release aviary, where he will stay until he has acclimatised to outdoor temperatures and has had enough time to exercise and regrow his traumatically lost tail feathers. This will also give him a good chance to improve the waterproofing of his plumage, which is another often underestimated factor before being soft released. Soft release is the preferred release method to be used for hand-reared birds, juveniles or long term patients.
These birds are being kept in a specially designed species specific aviary, which will then be opened to allow the birds to leave in their own time. Support feeding will be provided and the birds are also able to return whenever the feel the need to. This way theses birds are given the best posibble chance to successfully return into the wild and to be re-integrated into their respective bird societies.
Update – 18/09/2017
Today dunnock Ali has been successfully soft released. Stay safe Ali!
Kojak, a nestling jackdaw, has been brought to us after being found on the ground, for reasons unknown to us. He might have been the runt of the brood, thrown out of the nest by his own kind, but he was lucky enough to have been found and rescued by a very kind and compassionate person. However, we have also learned over the past weeks, where we had the privilege to care for him and to get to know each other, that being the runt doesn’t mean at all that the bird concerned doesn’t want to live. Kojak has got the spirit of a fighter, whilst also being a very gentle and loyal soul.
He came to us almost dead with signs of severe dehydration, starvation, and malnutrition with poor plumage development and splay legs. Kojak’s leg muscles where severely atrophic, which made it impossible for him to stand up properly, to walk or to keep his balance. Due to a severe electrolyte imbalance caused by dehydration and starvation, he developed seizures and other neurological symptoms. After days of intensive treatment, sleepless nights and a life-threatening relapse, we eventually managed to stabilise his condition, which was the crucial moment when things started to improve. But not without Kojak’s help and strong will. We would not have been able to save his life without his own determination and help.
Kojak was determined to get stronger, to walk and to fly. Thanks to his healthy appetite, and a specially designed diet, he started to put on weight and to become stronger allowing him to exercise. And that is what he did. He was exercising and practising all day long until he was strong enough to stand up and to walk. He exercised his flight muscles until he was able to lift off. But he didn’t do all this alone. He was inspired and helped by another patient, a jay nestling we named Alita, who came to us as a very poorly orphan as well, and was of roughly the same age as Kojak. Both birds got on very well and soon ventured out together to explore their outdoor rehabilitation and recuperation aviary, encouraging each other to take on the next hurdle.
Then the time came for Alita to say good-bye, to get her second chance in life and to be soft released. It took Alita a while to make up her mind, but eventually she left. She still visits the area and occasionally her old friend. Both birds seemingly knew that from now on they have to look forward, into their very own futures, after having spent a short but important period of time together, a period of time which helped both birds to find their place in their respective worlds. By accident, at almost the same time a new patient came to us, a juvenile jackdaw we named Benno, who suffered a badly fractured wing. And within a few days, both birds bonded, almost as they would have waited for each other.
Kojak’s journey hasn’t come to an end yet, as he still has got some smaller issues to overcome. But since we know him now that well, we are confident that these issues should not be a problem for him, in particular not with the help of his partner Benno. All it needs is time, trust, love and determination.
