Flick’s Story

Flick came in as a fledgling because she was being attacked by magpies in her rescuer’s garden. This is an example of when a fledgling does need to be rescued, she had suffered some feather loss and the magpies probably would have killed her. The parent birds had tried to protect her but they were not succeeding so the home owners stepped in.

When she arrived at the rescue she was a little sad but was happy to take food, gaping to be fed as she would have with her parent birds. I fed her on chick crumb, mixed to a porridge-like consistency with boiling water, given to her warm. I used a syringe with a tube attached so I could ensure the mixture went far enough into her throat for her not to aspirate any. Baby birds can be tricky to feed without harming them, so it’s best to get them to an experienced rehabber whenever you possibly can!

Flick thrived and soon moved on to pecking at bits of fruit, (chopped very small) seeds, nuts and dry chick crumb. A typical plate of food for her to pick from once she was self-feeding would be Strawberry, blueberries, grapes, pear, hazelnuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, oats and chopped peanuts. She also loved mealworms, once she got the hang of them (she was’t sure at first)

I started letting her out of her enclosure as soon as she was big enough and able to flutter to the ground safely. She would then hop all around exploring (and pooping too unfortunately). Once she could fly confidently, which she showed me by returning to her enclosure to feed herself, she was ready to go into a soft release aviary.

From a scraggy little thing, Flick became a sleek female blackbird, with lovely feathers and bright, inquiring eyes. She would peck at everything, drag pieces of cloth or paper around and make her likes and dislikes quite obvious! In the release aviary she had the opportunity to rediscover her wilder nature and her healthy distrust of humans. She was lucky enough to be joined there by another female blackbird of a similar age, who had come in for a few days TLC. They became firm friends and that will help their safe transition to being fully wild again.

Flick and her little friend, who we called Poppy, went missing from their aviary early one morning last week. They were small enough to squeeze through the gaps, so we knew it was a possibility that they would go when they felt ready. We wished them well and thought we wouldn’t see them again. When Maria went down to the flights that evening for a last check, lo and behold, there they were, back in the aviary, sitting side by side on the branch! They got given food and stayed tucked up for the night again. Free when they choose and fed when they need it, that’s a perfect soft release!

Good luck Flick and Poppy, and to steal a line from Mr Spock, Live long and prosper!