canberrabirds

Blackbird Rehabilitated

To: "Canberra Birds" <>
Subject: Blackbird Rehabilitated
From: "John Layton" <>
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 18:17:07 +1100

Early Wednesday morning we found a male Common Blackbird laying on the lawn. Bird didn’t look too bad. He was breathing, always a promising sign, and his eyes seemed attentive but he was limp as a stunned lizard. Probably struck a window but have never seen that befall a blackbird before. However, during the previous few days we’d noticed 3 males in pursuit of one another. Perhaps in the fervour of territory defence and acquisition this fellow had come to grief. Les petites put him on an old towel in a carton, fetched a handful of moist compost full of earthworms from the worm farm and placed it on a paper plate in the box together with a small container of water and put him under the house where it was cool, quiet and fairly dark. When they closed the trapdoor he’d be safe from prowling Meow Meow terrorists.

 

“What if he’s not better by tomorrow?” Elder Brat asked.

 

“We’ll take him to the RSPCA maybe they can help or euthanize the poor guy” I said.

 

“Nooo, he’ll be better tomorrow, you’ll see,” they said, eyes like saucers.

 

 When they checked him at 5:00 PM, he was standing up but the worms appeared untouched.

 

“He pecked my finger when I tried to feed him a worm,” Junior reported, proffering the allegedly assaulted digit for inspection.

 

“Bird’s on the mend then,” I said.

 

At 8:00 AM yesterday the veterinary brats looked in on their charge while I waited by the trapdoor and, when they opened the box, like Jack, he attempted to jump out. I told them to bring him into the disused aviary where it was shady and secure, and he could trial his wings. When he did, he almost undid everything.

 

I noticed him hopping about throughout the day looking alert and bright eyed if not bushy tailed, and when we entered the aviary this morning, he burst into flight as we approached. He shot past us and crashed into the wire at the other end falling to the ground. Oh no! But in an instant he was up and off again. This time, however, he threw out the air brakes, bounced gently off the mesh and tumbled to earth.

 

“Open the door and let him loose,” I called.

 

Samantha threw the door wide and we gently urged the bird towards it but he took wing, missed the opening and hit the wire again.

 

“Get him out of here before he kills himself,” Sam yelled.

 

With the alacrity of a striking taipan Linda scooped up Blackie and chucked him out the door. He never hit the ground, whizzed over a fence and across the neighbouring yard, turned  90 degrees flying helter skelter over two more backyards and appeared to be approaching mach one when we lost sight of him. We hope he returned to a mate and a nest brimming with chicks, and they happy-ever-after for many seasons raising copious young.

 

John K. Layton.

 

 







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