Every year many WIRES volunteers find themselves inundated with chicks. Among others, we see many tawny frogmouth chicks. They come into care for a variety of reasons, sometimes a run of wild weather will contribute, other times there is no single recognisable cause for the influx.

In the first instance we try to place them back with their parents however when there are already other chicks in the nest it is often a case of - they all rolled over and one fell out - and it is very hard to place the one that has fallen from a nest back where it belongs when it is high up in a eucalyptus tree. 

When it is very busy it is often necessary for volunteers with large aviaries to specialise so we can keep the same species together.  Someone will take in the magpie chicks and others the tawnies.

On occasion an adult tawny comes into care during this time and we have observed them feeding the little ones.  All of the tawny frogmouth chicks pictured here were successfully raised, rehabilitated and released to the credit of our very hard working WIRES volunteers.

As the weather begins to warm and Spring approaches we expect we will again find ourselves the custodians of a large number of white balls of fluff until they too can be released back into the wild.

As many native birds are beginning breeding now you may come across juvenile birds. These young birds are often left unattended for short periods of time while the parent bird is foraging for food. If you do see a young bird alone, the best action to take is to observe the bird for a while and make sure there is no parent about, also look for a nest nearby. The bird may have simply fallen out of the next and you may be able to put it back in the nest.

Birds will accept their young back after they have been handled by humans.

If it is a featherless young bird it will need heat. You can place a warm but not hot water bottle in a box, cover the water bottle with towels, and place the young bird in something resembling a nest such as a small basket. Cover the box, keep in a quiet dark place and call Wires as soon as possible.

It is important that you do not give the bird anything to eat or drink.