With a Little Help… a Tawney Frogmouth 's Life Is Saved

Tawney, stuck in the fence

Sometimes it takes a whole community to save one small life.

On the morning of 23 January, Jesse Girder was driving to work when he noticed what he thought was a dead bird caught between two fence posts. He stopped to take a closer look and to his surprise, the bird moved.

Although a little nervous about handling it, Jesse carefully freed the bird and placed it in his bag. The exhausted bird, a female Tawny Frogmouth, lay quietly and made no attempt to struggle.

The Tawney exhausted

Jesse is a family friend of the Chapmans and knew that their daughter, Katie Chapman, volunteered at Mandurah Wildlife. His first reaction was to take the injured bird to Katie for help.

While Jesse had to return to work, his wife Callie stepped in and drove Katie and the Frogmouth - later named Tracy by Jesse - to Falcon Vet.

Tracy weak but comfortable

As is usually the case, in our community, vets will treat injured wildlife free of charge. Tracy’s injuries were quite serious. One of her legs had been worn down to the bone and one wing was badly bruised and exhibited mini fractures.

After a couple of days of veterinary care, Tracy was transferred to Mandurah Wildlife where she spent two weeks in the Intensive Care Unit. Katie recalls that during this time, the bird was extremely weak and, at first, spent most of her time simply sleeping.

Tracy, almost recovered

Gradually Tracy regained her strength and once she was comfortably up on her feet and self-feeding, she was moved to an outdoor rehabilitation enclosure where she can rebuild her flight capability.

When I visited the enclosure recently with Katie, it was hard to spot Tracy as is the way with Tawny Frogmouths she was posing as a tree stump. A sign that she is returning to normal behaviour.

Jesse (with son, Casey) and volunteer Katie

The good news is that Tracy is now almost ready for release back into the wild. This story illustrates that wildlife rescue is often a team effort. From Jesse stopping to help, to Callie providing transport to the vet, then the care provided free by Falcon Vet and finally the extended rehabilitation at Mandurah Wildlife, each act of kindness played a part in Tracy’s recovery.

In a world often filled with difficult news, it’s heartening to remember that compassion and goodwill are alive and well in our community. And thanks to that goodwill, one beautiful and healthy Tawny Frogmouth will

soon return to the wild where she belongs.

Photos

Photos by Jesse Girder, Howard Priestly and Katie Chapman.