In 1998 my partner Sylvia joined the Far North Queensland Wildlife rescue association.
The initial effect of this joining was that the house was filled with smelly, noisy metallic starling chicks. Starlings are prolific breeders and their nests suffer many accidents. I became very adept at soaking dog biscuits, adding insectivore powder and then squirting it by the 5ml syringe full down their ungrateful little throats.
Then we were asked if we would raise two Rainbow Lorikeet chicks that had been "unhomed" by the felling of a tree in the neighbourhood. These first two were joined by another slightly larger chick and became Mr Big, Little and middle. We realise that this shows minimal imagination, but as the purpose of the exercise was to return these beautiful creatures to the wild where they belong it sufficed.
When we first got them they were covered in thick grey down and did little more than eat and ask for more to eat (often and loudly). As they grew they developed distinctly different personalities, Mr Big remained the physically larger bird but was an absolute wuss. Middle became a strong personality, to the point of being a bit unpleasant to handle as he had a nasty habit of nipping when not happy with proceedings. Little on the other hand was a complete cutie, he was the one that would march around the house following us in the hope of being fed, would come when called, and once he could fly, would fly straight at you fully expecting to be offered a hand to perch on, if you didn't get you hand up in time you got a face full of affronted Lorikeet.
Little also developed a liking for laying quietly on his back and having his tummy tickled, this led to him simply sleeping on his back. The first time we witnessed this bizarre behaviour we thought he was dead and when he wasn't dead we thought he must have been gravely ill. He wasn't, he had simply decided to throw several million years of evolution out the window and sleep on his back with wings partially outstretched.
In due course, and altogether too soon for us, it was time to release them to the wild. This was done by providing them with an open enclosure near trees where a Lorikeet flock was feeding. After a few days their return to the enclosure for feeding became more and more erratic and finally a bit over a week later, they stopped altogether.
Raising these little birds and seeing them go off to the wild has convinced both of us to continue to try to put a little back in exchange for our existence on this planet. Seek out your local wildlife rescue association and support them. Raising birds or caring for sick and injured animals is not for everyone, but you can help in lots of little ways:- money, food, providing containers etc.
I'll be adding some Lorikeet photos here shortly, but in the mean time, here is a photo of big, middle and little just a few days before they were released into the wild.
Email me here
Email Sylvia here
Click here to return to index