Bird Rehabilitation

Whilst travelling along our highways we often find animals and birds having been hurt and taken to care centres for rehabilitation. This informative article was interesting reading in Attracting Birds to you Garden by John Dengate.

Getting birds back into their natural environment can take an enormous amount of ability, time and money and is best handles by those who know what they're doing. The intricacies of rehabilitating birds are best illustrated by the example of an abandoned kite chick.

Kites, hawks, owls and eagles require a balanced diet of mice and birds to provide the roughage and nutrients they need to develop properly. Using substitute foods can cause serious damage. Once the kite chick is older it needs to learn to hunt for itself. The ancient European technique of falconry is the best way to teach it.

When the chick can catch mice in a large cage, it is transferred into a 'hacking' cage. This is an enclosure in an area where the bird's natural prey is plentiful. One end of the cage is open so the bird can fly out to hunt. In the cage, food is provided so the bird will be okay if it doesn't catch enough. Usually after a few weeks, the bird will be able to look after itself.

This process, termed 'hacking' the bird back into the wild, can be very successful if sufficient time and expertise is put into it.

Just as humans need roughage, kites and falcons need roughage from fur or feathers to develop properly.

Glyconutrients are generally missing from our diet but is necessary for optimal health and wellbeing in humans.