Or, learning how to manage when things don’t go according to plan…
This is Basalt.
Basalt suffered a shoulder injury last winter, from a window strike. He is incapable of sustained flight, and when he came to us, we were told that he wasn’t able to get any lift…
… which, apparently, is not exactly right.
While I was in his enclosure wiping down the floor (after removing his soiled mats), he quite literally flew the coop.
I was the only one at the Outdoor Learning Center at the time — it was an early, quiet morning. The doors to the room and bathroom were closed, so he couldn’t go anywhere outside of the room we were in. He didn’t end up in any of the turtle tanks (which would have required immediate action), so I finished washing his mats and cleaning his enclosure before I started to figure out what I needed to do.
Because it was not an urgent situation, and he didn’t appear to be in any danger, I decided to follow him for a few minutes. In part to assess the situation, but also, it was an opportunity for me to see how he moves (way better and more efficiently than I thought!).
Going up is a known behavior in wild birds, but I was surprised to see him moving around the room to tall perches because I thought he couldn’t. My guess? He had to molt some damaged wing feathers while in care with the vet, and that’s why he couldn’t generate lift. Now that he has those wing feathers, he can really get somewhere. (This wasn’t sustained flight, more like big arc-ing wing-assisted hops.)
I did not chase him. He moved and settled, and then I followed. I did not try to towel him while he was moving, or when he was out of reach. Had he ended up in a turtle tank or a tortoise enclosure, I would have been there immediately to help him before he had to interact with another animal.
(He yarked up a pellet while sitting on the Mallard’s head, so while I’m sure this wasn’t a relaxing situation for him, he wasn’t so stressed out that he couldn’t take care of his own needs.)
Eventually, after a round robin of the taxidermied mounts and window valances, he got tired and ended up on the floor. At that point, I was able to gently gather him in a towel and move him back to his enclosure.
So yeah, things were a little bit exciting today, in an unexpected way. I don’t want to encourage this behavior — I will have to alter my approach to make sure this doesn’t happen again. But I’m impressed by his ability, and I think it’s time to see about adding a couple of other, higher, perches in his enclosure…
Carmen Yount 