Tawny Frogmouth help

[Blr243]

Great work wap. Keep us posted

[Wapiti]

So Tawney's in a bigger cage, a puppy cage this time.
He's got a stick to walk up and a feet sized stick to perch on. I gave a small stainless bowl a touch-up with a ball-pein to put a flat on it to attach to the side, and cut a bot out off a purlin offcut to make a shelf to put mince, bugs and mice on. There's a small ceramic dip bowl there with rain water.
He's holding hos left wing out a bit, that's the one he was hanging from for so long.
He's in a cool spare bedroom in the cottage, nobody's visiting at the mo so he's got a quiet spot, and I've chucked a towel over it during the day and closed the blinds.

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[Wapiti]

Gotcha

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[perentie]

Looks good. Hope he comes right for you but if not they make good pets . Its just cleaning up the poo can be a problem

[Wapiti]

Mate, I have free range chooks cruising around the farmhouse yards, nothing could make more of a nasty crap everywhere than they do!
Plus the magpies and currawongs coming in to be fed and perching on the bbq chair backs, the wrens, the mobs of noisy jacks that pull my hair if I don't feed them...

[Blr243]

As a kit who used to run around barefooted, nothing is more disgusting than finding chook mess

[Wapiti]

So Tawney's being real difficult and hard to get along with.
He was spitting out his food, and feeding him was hit and miss.
So this evening, I just waited till he opened his mouth wide to try and scare me, and when he did I just placed a Christmas beetle down his gob, deep in past his tongue. He bit and bit and bit, but I just let him do it. When he bites, he automatically seems to swallow, so that worked. Then I gave him another, then a very wet swelled up water soaked pellet of puppy food. Then another one.
I read that they need beetles, hair and bones from tiny animals to make the casts they spit out, because they don't crap that out the rear. Same as magpies, currawongs, kookaburras do. So hence the beetles.
I've also done the same here with lean mince for the protein, to mix it up.

He bites alright, but it really isn't bad at all. Same as kookaburras, they look fearsome but really aren't. Compare that to big white cockatoos, who will definitely break your fingers and put holes right through your hand. So I'm onto him now.
Tomorrow I'm going to go into town and see if I can get some mealworms or baby mice, as I can't find any worms here, it's too dry.
I've baited all my mouse traps with mince, so hopefully I can get some to chop them up for him. Or her.

[Wapiti]

For those awesome helpful members that gave me advice on Tawney, and asked to be kept updated, here's a great story. Or I reckon it is.

This morning one of my snap-traps had a mouse in it, awesome! But I'd already fed Tawney some balls of mince and two water-soaked Christmas beetles before I saw it, so it went in the fridge. This evening I dragged it out and cut it into 4 pieces.
He was sitting on my knee watching Sky news with me, talking to me. You blokes who've rescued one of these birds know the funny sound. I was stroking his head and he'd go to sleep, but when I looked at him, he'd open his eyes and talk to me.
Then Dusty the Kelie rocked up, and came over for a look. Tawney stretched out to almost a foot long, fluffed his feathers out so he looked twice as big and opened that huge yellow mouth and eyes like dinner plates, and growled at the dog.
Dusty went, "f*ck that", and left quick-smart.

So I showed him the plate of 4 mouse bits, now room temperature, and he immediately snatched two pieces lightning fast and swallowed them down the back somewhere of that huge gob. Then 2 Christmas beetles.
He'll get the other half 2 bits and some mince and beetles in the morning. He will sit on my shoulder when I walk around the house.
I was half expecting my earlobe to be bitten off, but no luckily. Maybe he knows I'm helping him.
I hope that I catch more mice overnight.

[Zach]

Sounds like he's already getting used to a life of luxury away from the heat and predators. You might have a long term companion on your hands now

[Finniss]

Sounding pretty good.

Having a few thoughts.
Is there a spot to leave him safely enclosed but outside with a small solar light or something to attract a few bugs, moths, geckos etc it could grab off the ground. Maybe set up a perch he can wander down when he spots something. Depends on your good vs bad bug ratio I guess.

Dunno if you have cane toads but I used to skin their legs for falcons/kites for a varied diet.

[perentie]

That is a great story. Bonding already, that didnt take long. Well done.

[Wapiti]

Thanks guys.
I'm wondering whether he was a young bird, on one of a first few flies when he hit the fence? And easily got used to me being kind? I don't know anything about these birds but this one was much lighter than I expected, nothing to him.
Finniss, your idea is worth thinking about. like to run a bug zapper out the back and all the moths come to it. The green and beige frogs hang around for a free feed, usually there are heaps of them. But we've had a dry spell and when that happens, all the frogs and bugs disappear.
But apart from the bird seed and mice, that might explain why there are other wild tawneys hanging around there at night.

[Die Judicii]

Young Tawneys have remnants of “down” still showing in the tail and wing feathers apparently. I found that out just by googling “how to tell the age of a “Tawney Frogmouth” and the answer is quite informative.

[Zach]

Thanks guys.
I'm wondering whether he was a young bird, on one of a first few flies when he hit the fence? And easily got used to me being kind? I don't know anything about these birds but this one was much lighter than I expected, nothing to him.
Finniss, your idea is worth thinking about. like to run a bug zapper out the back and all the moths come to it. The green and beige frogs hang around for a free feed, usually there are heaps of them. But we've had a dry spell and when that happens, all the frogs and bugs disappear.
But apart from the bird seed and mice, that might explain why there are other wild tawneys hanging around there at night.

You could put him on a digital scale and compare his weight with numbers off the internet? From a quick look they range from around 300 to 680 grams but I'm not sure if juveniles are included in that range. Birds are deceptively light. All fluff and hollow bones so they can fly

[Wapiti]

Thanks for the tips.
Well, got another mouse overnight. Funny, I always have traps out but only now that I need the rodents, the gods are smiling at me.

And another member's kindly helping me with live worms for Tawney, I shan't name and embarrass him! But some of the members here have been incredibly helpful and generous. Some great people. I can't get over the contrasts, it's unreal.

I had an issue with a water trough, limescale in the float and when I moved it to get at the pipework, there was a handful of big worms so I immediately went back with them and saw if he was interested. He surely was, so great!

Last time I took a bird into town for help, a most ungrateful cockatoo, the vets confiscated it from me and put it down. They wouldn't give it back. So I can't trust anyone here that will look after this bird right now.

[Wapiti]

Unfortunately, Tawney has a confirmed broken left wing, halfway along in the main bone.
It's starting to knit, but he may never fly again so I can't let him go.
At the moment, I'm looking for an animal carer that is interested in taking him, my wife is helping me find someone that won't put him down. He will sit on my shoulder and run his beak through my hair when I'm on the couch. (towel essential to catch the poos though)
Until then, he's eating mice, beetles and mince balls and living in air-con'd luxury.

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[perentie]

Thats a shame. If my wife was still with me she would take him. She loved Tawneys.
Good Luck.

[Wapiti]

Thanks Perentie.
He's just taken a ute trip with me to Warwick and cracked the sh*ts in my ear the whole 1-1/2hr trip. Looks fearsome but he's just a character. Animals are such a joy to have around.

[bigrich]

shame to have to move him on , sounds like you've become attached to your little friend . couldn't keep him as a house guest hey ?

[Wapiti]

Well yeah Rich... he had to come with me into town to the other place overnight so he got a feed, the Mrs loves him. And he's such a character.
But I was wrong about the price of weaner mice from the funky old pet shop on the main drag, they are $4.10 each, not why I mistakenly said. And I've got traps everywhere, but can't keep up. And it's real dry so moths and beetles are scarce as.
And the frogs raiding the bug zapper out tge back are being watched by tge wild Tawneys here. Can't deny them tucker.
I've got the name of some crazy wildlife carer out towards Cunningham's Gap but it'll be a full on interview before I give him up.
I am Dr Doolittle apparently, but hey I owe it to the bird. If he stays because nobody wants a bird that cant fly, well he'll have to put up with us.

[Die Judicii]

Unlike f#cking crows that are in plague proportions,,, you’d think that the Tawney population would’ve exploded when we had the mouse plague,, but didn’t see any sign of that being the case. I see Tawney’s quite often during my night vigils.

[Wapiti]

Tawney here screams around on my shoulder when it's grub time, I was thinking about introducing him to the one that sits out the back of the house here each night. Because he's very vocal and croaks at me all the time, I thought that the wild one would hear him and talk back.
But I'm concerned he'll get distressed about it, and he cannot fly at all so can't leave for a visit like what Perentie had happen.

[Damo300]

Good on you Wapiti.
You're doing a good thing there.
Love the night jar family.


We have pet birds.
They have cages but are free to roam.
Trigger, our budgie, he must be a prisoner in his past life. If you take him away from his cage, he just loses it and starts doing whatever he can to get back there... Funny as.

[Wapiti]

Thanks Damo.
Bloody heck, as if I need more to do.
But I don't have a choice really, some acquaintances gave me some numbers to ring of carers who take in native animals that are hurt, but they all are swamped with as many species they can care for and are all at the point where they just can't afford to do it anymore. They are strapped for money, none of them get any official help, and their donors are struggling also and are pulling help.
All say that if I took Tawney to the vet, he'd be put down, due to being a wild-born bird with not any hope in being released back there.
And the ridiculous thing is, if people come onboard suddenly and help, finding an injured animal and that they don't have a $$$ license for, they are charged. It's even made it into local papers here, talk about a slow news week?
WTF is wrong with Australia.
I'm typing on a laptop now, and this little crack-up is croaking behind me on a towel on the couch, wanting his breakfast.

[Wapiti]

So for those other dudes out there who are Dr Doolittles like me, I found some great feed ideas from some native wildlife carers today, as well as from the kind people here who have helped.
You can buy chicken hearts in woollies and Coles (evil) or butchers. Also chicken livers. Eal cheap and awesomely nutritious. There's also this stuff, a powder, especially for owls and Tawneys that makes up for no roughage and gives them calcium and minerals etc tgat you put in a zip-lick bag and shake the hearts etc in.
Tawney just guts himself on 2 chicken hearts and half a chook liver for dinner he loved them.
So what a great score, it's really made a difference.
He's in Warwick ATM, watching Sky with us and belittling Albanese and Grace Tame (the professional victim). Gotta make sure he knows who not to vote for next time, I mean, you don't need voter ID, right? The Greens and the Unions taught us to take advantage of that...
Anyway, enough sarcasm.

[Wapiti]

This is the stuff for birds, if any of you ever find yourselves helping one.
You can get it in big boxes and bags, and different brands too. I never heard of it before.

It allows you to feed your bird, of any kind, more easily obtained, cheaper and conventional food like mince, chicken hearts and meat offcuts, from hawks to magpies to parrots. Without denying the birds the minerals roughage and vitamins they get in the bush food.

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