Seventeen came into care a couple of days before Christmas 2009.
A nice lady driving down a road saw in the distance two workmen coming from a house and throwing something repeatedly on the ground and then things flying in the air above the workmen. Intrigued she stopped at the spot. Both workmen had gone inside the house and she saw what looked like broken clay pots on the ground with little birds hovering above them. Intrigued, she got out of her car and on closer examination she found to her horror a number of baby birds in what she then realized were broken nests.
Using her skirt she started collecting all the babies. She had just finished when one of the workmen came out and told her to go and leave them alone as they were vermin. (It is an Australian native - ed. http://birdsinbackyards.net/species/Hirundo-ariel).
She got into her car with babies still wrapped in her skirt and drove down the road a little before stopping and finding a beach towel on the back seat; transferred the babies to the towel and off to the local vet she drove with her precious cargo.
The vet phoned an ex ARC carer (Belinda Hadley) who contacted me. I was at work and could not attend so Belinda collected them for me and followed my instructions till I could collect them three hours later. (thanks Belinda) .
There were too many for me to care for as they are constant feeders with some needing 15 minute feedings, some half hourly feedings and some hourly; so Linda Wilson agreed to learn how to care for them under my mentorship. She took 7. One had to be euthanaised as badly injured and I kept the remaining 9. They ranged in size from 4 grams to 12 grams. We broke them up into family groups after watching which ones huddled together as Fairy Martins hatch at different stages therefore nothing unusual to get 3 different size birds in one nest.ALL of the remaining 16 survived. Good work Linda for your first lot of Fairy Martins! Here is Linda's account...
"When Valda Barton asked me to care for 7 Fairy Martins I was a little hesitant at first, but very curious to know more about these delightful little birds. I have never raised such tiny birds and I had a lot to learn. Valda arrived with the little brood in a big container with heating mat, nesting box, food and supplements. I had a valuable lesson in feeding techniques which included rolling their mix into little balls and feeding from a toothpick. They were a little dehydrated from the ordeal of losing their nesting colony, so Valda showed me how to give them electrolyte fluids from a syringe fitted with a tiny feeding tube.
I wondered how I would manage Xmas and family visits and feed the birds every 2 hours! Somehow the birds and I survived the festivities and they developed to the stage where they needed room to exercise their wings. I moved them to a cockatiel cage and lined it with black tutu material - thus preventing damage to their fragile feathers and protecting them from the big guys - Noisy Miners hassled them a lot.
Feeding sessions took place in the laundry where they could fly and practise their hovering. A couple got to snatching the food from the toothpick as they hovered above it - just as they catch insects in the wild. To keep track of which birds had been fed I put them in a holding box as they were fed, then transferred them back to their cage. They were so easy to handle and a joy to care for. At times I felt like a new mother, snatching a rest between feeds, but it has been one of the most wonderful experiences of raising birds I have ever had. These tiny birds are full of spirit and display such endearing qualities through their close bonding with each other. I certainly bonded with them and felt a little sad to move them on.
They are now back with Valda and the rest of their colony to move into an aviary and later release. I have learnt so much from raising these Fairy Martins and know my new skills will benefit my caring for other birds in the future. Thank you Valda for giving me the opportunity to experience these beautiful Fairies"Of my 9; I released 5 early in January at a safe release site in
Linda’s 7. One self released itself. 6 came back to me for aviary training. Four are now ready for release; weather permitting with mine. I will put them with the others at
Two unfortunately have developed on going health problems (probably related to their mistreatment by these workers) and are being held back and I can’t see them being released before next Spring.
What a happy ending to a sad story. You don’t see many Fairy Martin colonies around much now, so it is sad to lose another colony like this.
Small ones compared to a 5 cent coin for size Larger ones when they first came in. All 16 huddled together
My first 5 that were released Mine and Linda’s together in nest ready to go to aviary
Linda’s and mine together ready for release Two being held back. One is losing feathers and the other one is throwing fits.
