- 22 -
PENN
PENN
owls
a bird of prey with a tail completely shorn off, or two- thirds shorn off, wouldn't stand very much of a chance in catching its food when it was released. And tails were probably the main reason why I rejected many otherwise apparently healthy birds.
Many of the birds a selection of eagles, falcons, buzzards and developed sinusitis and other domestic ailments to which their poor condition made them specially vulnerable.
Nechtel
We overcame this to a certain extent by giving them antibiotics, regardless of whether they showed any signs of illness, almost immediately I got them. find we found that some of these birds stood fantastic doses of antibiotics.
In the initial stages very often feeding them was a problem they had to be force fed. If the bird was healthy, I found that - with most spacios they very quickly began to take small pieces
of meat, because they were extremely hungry - nearly all of them had a breast bone like a razor.....though provided the bird wasn't too weak, and still had not contracted any of the fowl post diseases, the chances of fattening it up were pretty good.
He kept about four at one time; and of some 90 birds about
70 survived.
Hechtel
Birds released from the roof of the house - tended to
Well of course it depended on the species. In one or two cases buzzards flew straight into the trees and simply sat there.
I released them in the early morning and they very often sat there for the whole day almost, until they were mobbed by magpies, Chinese Blue Magpies, and then they would fly into another tree. But they remained in the area for a long time flying off in the evening.
Kastrels, however, seemed to get going very quickly. They would rise up very high, well over the Poak, and just vanish
out of sight.
One Imperial Eagle which we released on a beautiful day from
the top of the Peak circled round us for ten or fifteen minutes and then headed straight up the Pearl River until it was out of sight.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.