I found this little guy lying on the front lawn this morning after I had dropped Bugs off at child care. I had thought he was asleep in sun until Helen said, “Um, I don’t think birds pant like that”.
Since Helen was off to an audition, it fell to me to sort out what I could do to help the poor bird. I rang the Sydney Metropolitan Wildlife Service (which is run by volunteers) who advised me to either get him to a vet or keep him inside and warm in a box until they could send someone around late in the afternoon to pick him up.
Although he settled down a little in the box, he still didn’t look too good so as soon as Helen got back from her audition, we took him to the Great Western Animal Hospital to see if they could do anything for him.
About half an hour later they hospital rang me to let me know that it appeared that he had an advanced infestation of air sac mites, had been ill for some time and had a very low chance of responding to the required extensive treatment and as such, they had put him to sleep.
Poor birdie :-(
Despite the fact that this sort of thing happens in the wild all the time, and this bird had only been around in my life for a single morning, I miss the poor little guy. I had propped his box up on the bean bag and moved my laptop into the rumpus room to keep him company while I waited for Helen to get home. I checked on him regularly and even re-heated the heat pack I’d put in the box to ensure he stayed warm.
It seems silly to be sentimental about one little bird, but there you have it.
