Last week, I came across two Red Wattlebird chicks in my local, Elsternwick park. Their nest was fairly low, and they were fledged and ready to leave it. As I watched, in fact, one flew off. The other teetered on the nest’s edge, stretching and flapping its wings. Checking the next day, I noticed the reason for this. Just visible on the outside was a piece of string that bound one of its legs to the branch the nest sat on. After getting the go-ahead from Wildlife Victoria, a friend and I set about trying to cut it free. Sadly, the string was by no means the only problem. After looking inside the nest, I found the chick entangled in another golf-ball sized mess of yellow, plastic thread. We were forced to take down the nest and worked for 20 minutes cutting the bird free, which panicked, all the while. Its parents were both nearby, shrieking an alarm in that unmistakeable,wattlebird, way. At this point, it became clear the bird wouldn’t survive. It had spent at least a full day struggling so hard, its leg was broken and hung loose. If infection didn’t kill it, inability to perch surely would. We debated getting it euthanised but decided to let it go. It flew away strongly, towards its parents. This nasty story is apparently not uncommon. According to the rescue people, many birds line their nests with humanity’s detritus and end up worse for wear. Has anyone ever heard of this?
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Peter & all
Yes, me too, I would have just let it go, let it have a chance or to die quickly in the grasp of a predator rather than the hands of a well meaning person.
Greg Little
Would a broken leg inevitably lead to death? I wouldn’t know, so I would have released it too. _________________________________
In the first instance the shock and pain and any infection is likely to kill the bird. If that doesn’t kill it then the limitations on foraging while the fracture mends might do so. It seems likely to me that for any one bird that survives such an experience unaided, many hundreds will die painfully.
A weakened animal is also at the mercy of a secondary infection or predation. While predation is a necessary part of life (otherwise I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the peregrines out my office window), it doesn’t follow that one should release an injured bird in the hope that it will get eaten by a peregrine or a raven, rather than a cat.
In respect of one legged birds, birds that spend a lot of time either on the water or in the air seem to manage better. Other times birds like pigeons that spend a lot of time on the ground manage without a foot.
As a guide, if you are ever faced with circumstance where you have to decide if you will release a bird or take it in to care, you can do worse than to consider how you would manage with a broken leg getting around in your life without any pain relief, splint or surgical/medical support. If you think this is likely to make your life marginal, then it’s likely that it will make that bird’s life marginal too.
storm
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Peter,
I have seen one-legged birds before that were quite capable of getting around and looking after themselves. However I think that what Storm was referring to is that if you aren’t sure whether a bird will survive, let an experienced carer make the call, don’t take it on yourself.
Regards, Chris
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Would a broken leg inevitably lead to death? I wouldn’t know, so I would have released it too.
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can I ask all listers to reflect upon the above statement?
An animal that can not survive, ethically (if not in law), must be euthanised. It is not humane to leave an animal to die of infection, starvation or predation because one does not want to have to make the decision to take it’s life.
If one feels unable to make the decision one’s self please hand the bird to a wildlife rehabber or vet so that the bird may receive appropriate care, pain relief and other medication, while a decision about the viability or otherwise of the bird is determined.
I have killed far too many animals and I never get used to it, it is never a casual decision. But a humane death is a far kinder thing than to give the bird days or weeks of suffering before the inevitable outcome.
storm
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I regularly collect up to ten red rubber bands a week from postmen droppings (sorry). I take them into the post office and ask the manager to talk to the postie! The local manager is very onside now, once I’d explained why I was bringing them in and tells the postie accordingly; she says!
I also snip them when throwing other rubber bands, etc., in the rubbish bin, this may not stop birds/animals eating them but should stop them wrapping around various heads, neck, feet, etc!
Alan
******************************************************************************* Alan McBride, MBO.
Photojournalist | Writer | Traveller | + Member: Australian Photographic Society Travel Writers Association – Board of Directors American Writers & Artists Inc. International Travel Writers & Photographers Alliance National Association of Independent Writers & Editors Travelwriters . com Travcom New Zealand Regional Representative Australia: Neotropical Bird Club
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