Sunday 2 February 2014

local insects and animals- Teal'c, the Black-faced cuckoo shrike


This week a local family bought us a baby bird; he had fallen or flown from a high nest and was being menaced by their dog. If he had been fully feathered we would have advised them to leave him in a high tree to be reclaimed by his (no doubt worried) parents. However, he is not yet fully feathered and has made no attempt to fly in the three days he has been here.

Meet Teal'c; the Black-faced cuckoo shrike


Teal'c is a Black-face cuckoo shrike , who are not cuckoos or shrikes. They are omnivorous birds, although they mostly eat insects. They live in bush country, suburban garden and farm land.
This little boy (we think), is currently in a cage through the day and in a heated box at night. He is being fed on balls of insectivore mix and meal worms along with any stinging flies, beetles and worms we can find. He is fed 'on demand'; as his cage is in the house, we can hear him call us for food. He is a delightful little boy who will eventually grow up and join the local populations that frequent the bush around our house.



2 comments:

  1. Hey Jude,
    Doing a great job with the little fellow. I thought Rusty (dog) had a goanna at first because of the noise luckily i thought better of it and went to have a look. Thanks for taking him i don't think we would have been able to keep him going.
    Shaz

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  2. I am so glad you saved him. He is a welcome addition to the family. I will post more about him as he grows up.

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