Crow fledglingNugget

Meet our guest for the last two days. This fledgling crow was in our care while waiting to be placed into a bird sanctuary.

He was found sitting on the ground near our field. Normally that wouldn’t have been cause for alarm. Crows, more often than not, leave the nest before they can fly. Their parents will keep feeding them on the ground until they’re ready to do it all on their own.

If you ever find a young crow it’s therefore a good idea to just let him be. Most likely, his parents are close by, waiting for you to leave. And don’t worry about him smelling of humans. It’s an urban myth that that would cause birds to disown their offspring.

Sometimes it’s a good idea to have someone who knows about these birds to come have a look, though. Like in the case of this one. He was very malnourished, which shows in his feathers. He also was in a very unfortunate location. Between two primary schools, loads of cats and dogs, close to the road. In his case, taking him into care was called for. He definitely wouldn’t have survived, so I’m glad we were asked to come take a look at him.

As we speak, this little fellow is in a bird sanctuary. He’ll stay there with fellow crows until he’s ready to be released into the wild again…. ?