Young Magpie

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We have a young magpie that a cat has caught and it has no tail feathers and cant fly,
We put it in a tub with a substrate and water, with a wire lid, and left it outside undercover.
It is fairly stressed and so is its mother, she is hanging around and calling to it etc.

I would be interested to hear what we should do with it,
How long do tail feathers take to re-grow,
a wildlife care group that can help
your opinion......

 

[Ambush]

Take it to a vet or the RSPCA who pass it onto a career. They ask the area found ect. So it can be released.

 

[-Peter]

If it is uninjured you may be able to place it in the care of its parents.
Does it still have some downie feathers or is it fully fledged. At this stage in the season I would be placing it back with the parents or setting it up so that they can interact with it.
I generally get a large icecream container, drill drain holes, fill it with nesting material and then screw it to a branch where the parents can get to it.
If this isn't practical call a wildlife care group. It will then be placed with other young magpies and an adult female and raised for release.

 

[Ambush]

Cat got it and no tail feathers. I think it's injured.

 

[Miss-Mac]

If the cat has scratched or bitten through the skin there is a possible chance of him dieing (cats have very nasty bacteria) the best thing would be would to take it to a vet that has experiance with wildlife, or Wildcare person or is possible you can bring it up to the Aussie Zoo Wildlife Hospital (bit of a drive from brissy. My partner and I are on call for rescues, mainly reptiles but will do anything.)

Other then that put a dark blanket/towl/pillowcaes over the top, it will lower his stress which is another big killer in wildlife. If its in the sun I would move it into the shade so he isn't in the sun.

Good luck with the little guy and I hope all gose well!

 

[xmattstax]

If injured take to local vet they will pass onto wildlife carer, If has no injuries my brother is raising one at the moment as a carer placed onto bedding inside a cage keeping it warm and was feeding it egg &biscult to start with for a while now is on mealworms crickets and small diced pieces of ox heart every couple of hours dipping food into water as he feeds it its at the stage of standing up and fluttering but still cant fly yet

 

[Morgwynn]

If a cat got it, take it to the vet ASAP. Animals attacked by cats NEED antibiotics immediately, or they'll nearly always get an infection. It's very important they get those antibiotics within 12-24 hours. Make sure you leave all of the details about what happened to it and where it came from with the vet, they are territorial birds and need to go back to where they came from. The vet will contact a wildlife rehab organisation.

Don't put it in anything with wire as they can damage their feathers, a cardboard box is honestly the best, with a towel to prevent it from slipping and airholes so it can breathe. Leave it alone as much as possible and turn the radio off when you're taking it in the vet to prevent stress.

Edit: Take it to the vet even if you don't think it's injured. Cats have a lot of bacteria in their mouths and on their claws, all it takes is one scratch.

 

[Beard]

Had a similar scenario a few days ago, a cat was going for a young maggie, it'd fallen from its nest in my front yard. I belted the cat with a broom. Crisis averted.

 

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Thanks Peter.