RE MAGPIE BILLS

Speaking of Maggies,

I spent most of a day watching an abandoned baby mag with no mum or dad showing up at all. The babe pleaded with a male feeding another older infant for some tucker but he was attacked. So after feeding him some mince I picked him up to take him to the Vet and then the wild life carers. BUT it was still New Years so the Vet was closed so the baby spent the night on my boat with me.

Giving him water via a bottle cap then later a syringe, I noticed in the air-conditioned car ride his bill was wide open and I wondered if I’d given him too much water?????

On the boat and in his shoe box nest he appeared relaxed and was acting like a baby magpie and no more wide open bill. At the crack of dawn we returned to the tree I found him under and fed him some captured flies and mince. There were 2 broods near the tree and one of the males took some meat out of my hand. But they ignored my little mate while I sat in my car for a couple of hours watching so off to the Vet we went.

I’m assuming juniors mum and dad may have been effected by the ‘Annual Avian Holocaust’ (new years eve fireworks) and why he was abandoned. But my question is : How long do you wait for mum and dad to return before you decide he’s abandoned ??? If Paynesville wasn’t the dog, cat & fox capital of Gippsland I would have left it under the tree overnight. Pat Appleton xoxoxox

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