Rewilding & rehabilitation starts with trust … establishing authentic connections is a journey. Each bird has its own distinctive needs. Creating a holistic approach to wildlife, opens a unique path into nature - & an intimate glimpse of how enriching wildlife is, if we observe & listen.

Rewilding is a unique way to practice non-attachment. Each bird is cared for & strong bonds are forged. After, weaning brings rehabilitation & rewilding.

Nature teaches that fostering earth connections & sentience is a responsibility that asks of each of us.

Yet its gift of reciprocity gifts far more by return than is given

Nestling gaping

Feeding a young bird takes skill & expertise. Young birds gape, signalling for their parent to plunge their beak into the soft gullet. The tissue is delicate, & to mimic this action, a soft pipette & domed pincers are used. It’s important to establish a gentle rhythm with feeding. Lung aspiration pneumonia is a common, unnecessary cause of death & is easily avoided by delicate handling, close observation & understanding of simple behavioural cues. Different birds have very different dietary & nutritional requirements.

Rehabilitation

Some birds are dehydrated, malnourished, injured, infested with parasite & require veterinary, or simple first aid or care. Others can be supported by a careful routine. Birds are not caged unless it is expressly for their protection or safeguarding from further injury by over-manipulation, overexertion by free movement. Access to water, bathing, fresh vegetation & natural stimulus ensures strengthening of their physical body, repair of injuries, rest & wellbeing. It was therapeutic to watch this bird, with an injured wing, take such pleasure in her self-care.

Fledgling feeding .

Keeping pace with a growing fledgling’s needs requires time, patience & stamina - & sustainable access to the types of foods required. A starling for example, is an insectivore & relies heavily on protein. Rearing fledglings necessitates an understanding of each different species with their unique & varied needs. The different beak actions, of different species & foraging skills using finger mimicry enables the bird to learn how to self-feed - lowering the vertical gaping to taking food from a 90° level, & after to soil level.

Bird voice recognition

Once birds are fledged, flying confidently, they are released outside to the vegetable garden, with small trees & thick protective vegetation. Each bird has a distinctive, unique call & voice, enabling me to locate & source them, mimicking the parent bird responding to their signalling a need for food by call recognition at feeding times. Roaming freely, the birds gain independence, learning experientially, self-weaning from prior established contact during earlier weeks. Fully fledged birds are dependent on the parent adults for some weeks. Solitary birds adjoin other youngsters, learning from adults in wild creches.

Schooling

Birds grow swiftly & require space to safely navigate their developing capabilities. Providing a safe space for learning foraging techniques with natural stimulus helps prepare them for each next rehabilitative stage. Rehabilitation is helped when birds are in pairs or small groups - they learn in stages, as a small community. It also helps them to learn important sounds, & behaviours that will help protect & keep them safe, from the many dangers that await them. Observing birds in the wild helps greatly with this process.

Rewilding

Raising birds one-to-one presents greater challenges. Bonds are established due to their need for companionship, company & care. Yet all birds may be fully rewilded, simply by observing the great patterns in nature. Summer solstice is the time of the great calling when birds are ‘summoned’ by something beyond our understanding. It is an extraordinary moving process & a privilege to witness. They respond by literally responding to this call - & their first night alone in the wild. After solstice, birds will return for shorter periods, until they integrate with other birds in their neighbourhood.