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July 2009
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| Tuesday 28th July |
Aviary 3 is finally finished and we can begin the tricky task of introducing the babies to the great outdoors. With the unpredictable weather of the rainy season, we have to watch that they don't get too cold and wet - especially with their horribly clipped wings. We will bring them in over their first few nights in case we get severe weather and to make sure they are finding food and feel secure in their new surroundings. |
 Dressing the aviary ready for the new occupants |
| Monday 27th July | So far so good: both remaining tinamou seem to be fit and well. | |
| Monday 20th July |
We are worried about the tinamou: we lost another today with no warning and no sign of illness. Again, the autopsy was inconclusive. The chicks spend the days in the aviary and shelter indoors at night. We don't see what more we can do for them: they are forest dwelling birds and in the wild are independent from the male guardian parent by 3 weeks: these birds should be surviving by themselves. They forage well and are not distressed. We will keep the remaining two under close observation, but they (cross fingers) seem fit and well... |
 One of the two surviving tinamou chicks. |
| Friday 17th July |
The sickly tinamou chick died in the night. The autopsy did not reveal anything conclusive, although there was considerable amounts of food in the ventriculus (gizzard), but the intestine was empty: possibly an indication of a blockage somewhere. We need to keep a close eye on the remaining three chicks. | |
| Monday 13th July |
Today we recieved a call from a couple who had been given a red lored to care for following the departure from Belize of it's original owners. They were concerned that the bird seemed unwell. On visiting their home, we found Prico, a 5 year old red lored who appeared listless and generally uninterested in life. We took him back to the centre and plied him with the usual cocktail of good food, antibiotics and vitamins. It didn't take long to realise that Prico was in fact almost blind. A quick search of the internet and consultaion with Dr Hugo revealed what we had suspected: a diet deficient in essential minerals and vitamins, especially vitamin A was the cause of his sight problems and of the visible yellowing of his feathers. Some reports suggest that the sight condition is reversable. We shall keep our fingers crossed. In the meantime, it took Prico a few hours to find his way around his new home, but he seems happy now and is very much enjoying his new fruit and veggie diet: a little more tasty than 5 years of salted peanuts and dried yellow corn. Prico is a sad example of how damaging the wrong diet can be to a parrot, and probably the main reason why most captive bird that survive the first year often don't make it past year 5. |
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| Sunday 12th July |
Busy Sunday for us. Andy and Jenny had their first outing to the aviary. They stayed out for 3 hours: Andy performed very well and is quite an accomplished flyer, considering he only has half of his wings. Jenny finds things a little more difficult. It could be that her slight splaying prevents her from getting the bounce required to gain height, particularly with reduced wing capacity. Still, I think she enjoyed the change of scenery. |
 Jenny (left) and Andy in the aviary |
| Sunday 12th July |
Penelope the Guan is all over the large aviary. She usually finds the highest roost possible, and investigates every feed station on a regular basis. Her favourite seems to be ground corn and papaya. Although her wings are horribly clipped, she gets about very well in the dense citrus branches of the aviary. |
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| Sunday 12th July |
Joanna and Katy have fitted in very well with our intensive care crew. They are still enjoying their baby food, but have started to tackle solids and they now know what toys are for. They both climb off the cage and toddle into the kitchen whenever food is being prepared. I think they have made themselves at home. |
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| Sunday 12th July |
One of the tinamous gave us a little scare. He appeared listless and sleepy; normally a sign of the latter stages of an illness. We dosed them all up with vitamins and a lot of tlc and this morning all seemed to be well with them. They behave a lot like chickens; grubbing and scratching, and they enjoy a very mixed diet of papaya, crushed nuts, small fruits, seeds and berries, chicken feed, ground corn and horse feed (containing larger seeds and oats). We bring them in at night to guard against mishaps with the unpredicatble rainy-season weather. |
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| Friday 10th July |
All is well with the new arrivals. The tinamous went into the small aviary for a run around, Penelope the Guan is very happy with the run of the large aviary, and the two red loreds (Joanna and Katy) are enjoying what is probably their first real food since being kidnapped from their nest. |
 'Penelope' |
| Thursday 9th July |
New arrivals: today a police check-point vehicle inspection seized 2 red loreds, a crested guan and 4 great tinamou chicks, although it took us a little while on the internet to confirm our identification of these little babies. |
 Crested Guan 'Penelope purpurascens' |
| Wednesday 8th July |
Update on Chac: We brought Chac into the house some weeks ago to protect from bad falls in the aviary. He was showing signs of distress on hearing his friends in the aviary, so we brought Chell in too - although Chell was brought in because Chac needed the company, to be honest Chell's wing clip is as bad as her friends, and they both risk serious injury in a fall from the aviary heights. They are going to be with us for quite some time... |
 What's left of Chac |
| Wednesday 8th July |
Jake is still with us. We are thinking our Owl Hotel is just a little too good. Blue is hanging around in the orchard and graciously accepted papaya from Jerry this morning. Spike, like every good boy, is heard but not seen. |
 Jake and an unfortunate grasshopper |
| Sunday 5th July |
Spike is in the trees above the house, and Blue is back around the aviary eating. We guess from this, that they are both well and enjoying their freedom. We have had raised eyebrows about releasing a blue-head when there is no obvious resident population of Mealy's in the area. It's a valid point. On the other hand, we are all about rehab and to us, a soft release is always preferable to abandoning a friend in the bush, regardless of how many of his own species may be around. Although there are no apparent resident Mealy's, they certainly fly over from time to time. We believe that a bird has a better chance of freedom from outside the aviary and, on the off-chance a Mealy happens by, Blue is free to follow and is equipped mentally and physically to survive. A caged bird, on the other hand - however nice the cage - can never be free... | |
| Friday 3rd July (night) |
On locking up our domestic fowl this evening, we encountered a very miserable looking Jake on the drive. He didn't argue when we picked him up and brought him inside - he certainly didn't hesitate when we waved food in his face. We are not sure if he got cold or sick after his first ever rain shower the night before, or whether he was just not doing too well hunting for food. Whatever the reason, after his week of independence, he enjoyed our hospitality immensely. |
 Jake, home again |
| Friday 3rd July |
Spike is nowhere to be seen this morning. Yesterday afternoon he flew two circuits of the sanctuary from river to bush (approximately a mile of travel for each lap) and ended up back at the aviary. This seems typical orientation behaviour, so we assume (and hope) he knows where the food is if he needs it. Blue on the other hand, had his face in the food bowl before we arrived with the morning's fresh goodies. It was a relief to see him come 'home'. | |
| Thursday 2nd July |
We can hear Blue calling over in the tree line. He is making what we understand to be 'distressed sounds', but when we go to the base of the tree with food, he doesn't seem at all bothered about coming down. Spike is at the opposite side of the property almost half a mile away: we may have misjudged their degree of friendship... Still, seem well, they are flying beautifully and appear happy with their lot. | |
| Wednesday 1st July |
Today was the big day for Blue and Spike. In the end, it was all a little unceremonious. Spike was evicted on the end of a stick, following a particularly vicious attack on Nikki's back, and Blue had to be manhandled out between a sturdy pair of gloves. Not so much the patient top-door releases we are used to. Still, after the initial worry of being without wire for the first time in their lives, they settled down to the important task of dismantling the orchard, as have all of our releases. |
 Spike: free at last |
