We picked him up from the vet surgery where Donna works on Friday afternoon. We'd been told he was malnourished. A quick look at him made me think he wasn't malnourished, but he was definitely feeling sorry for himself. His beak was a bit darker than normal and we wondered if he'd eaten something he shouldn't have.
We took him home gave him some lori mix, water and a couple of native flowers, covered the cage and left him alone.
The intention was to pass him on to another carer when we took Mogwai over to be passed on. That day was today, and while we were getting ready the bird seemed really antsy and active. He'd had plenty to eat and certainly didn't look ill anymore, so we took the cage outside, opened the door, and let him do his thing. Once he got into the tree, he had a look around, got his bearings, then he was off. Our first release. I know we hadn't had him long, but it still counts, and he probably would have been eaten by a cat the way he was when we picked him up.
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So now we only have one wild animal to look after. Mogwai looked a bit overawed when we opened his box at Natasja's place, who are all these people?
By now he'll be at Mt Tamborine near the Gold Coast in an even bigger aviary than he was with us. He'll spend a few more weeks there, fattening up on the local cuisine, then he'll be allowed to get out of the aviary and go and explore in the evenings until he decides to stay away.
2 comments:
black beaks in lorikeets indicates less then 3 months old post juvinile, he prolly looked sad and sorry for himself because he wasnt quite ready to forage on his own, but with a hearty meal under his belt he was off and ready to try again.
We've learnt a hell of a lot about lorikeets since that day, to the extent we're now known in the area as lorikeet carers. We've still got a lot more to learn though.
These days we never release juvies and never release any lorikeets on their own.
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