A wee art room guest.
Last week A Wax-eye nestling spent a few days in the Art Room.
Mrs Taylor found a nestling on the tarmac where staff cars park last week. There was no sign of a nest or any parent birds around, so it was put in an empty lunch box and taken home. A hot water bottle to keep it warm and some soaked mealworms did the trick and it was soon looking much happier. The next day the purchase of some kitten food went down well. It was so small it was hard to tell what species it was. Luckily Mrs Boyle came to the rescue and searched its image online. A Wax-eye/ Tauhou! Once we realised it was a native species we knew it was time for it to go to the Wildlife Hospital that is next to Willowbank. All native wildlife must be taken to an offical centre for care. Some students fed the bird before setting off to the hospital. It was chatting away the whole time in the car and already demanding food when we arrived. The vet thought it had been very well looked after. A donation was left to help pay for its keep and we will call in a couple of weeks to see how it is doing.
Sadly the day after finding this bird two more were discovered on the ground not too far away. They must have been under a car. They had not survived. How they got there is a bit of a mystery, but a bigger bird may have raided the nest then dropped them. Quite something for this little chap to have survived the fall!
If you find any young bird check out what to do at the South Island Wildlife Hospital site below.
The bird was very cute, I enjoyed feeding it - Nina Room 7.
Its legs looked like they were about to snap, as if they were made of twigs.
It was very delicate and fragile Devi Room 16
South Island Wildlife Hospital
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