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Miracle Kookaburras survive against odds with some help from WIRES

Friday, January 1, 2021

Kookaburra-chicks-in-careThey're known for their hilarious cackle, but it was no laughing matter for a Fountaindale native animal carer when she was given the job of saving two kookaburra chicks.

"The eggs were blown from their nest in high winds and luckily someone found them and called WIRES and the birds are now doing really well.

Normally kookaburra eggs falling from a nest, smashing to the ground and breaking open, is unlikely to be the start of a happy tale," said WIRES carer Ruth Hopkins, who took the tiny featherless pair into her care just before Christmas. But the two-month-old miracle kookaburras thrived in care and learned to fend for themselves, before being released back into the wild.

"They would definitely have died if someone hadn't found the broken eggs and called WIRES"

At first the plucky pair required around-the-clock care with half-hourly feeds. After some time in care the birds enjoyed a diet of raw meat and mice three times a day.

"They needed to practice how to hunt and swoop for their food and were in care until they could clearly fend for themselves," said Mrs Hopkins, who said the birds cacophony doesn't bother her.

"We are surrounded by bush and native animals here. Kookaburras are very funny looking things when they're born but I'm very fond of them - how can you not be?" she said.