The Firetail Finch

When the weather is nice we try and go walking every day. Theodore loves exploring outside – sand, bark, grass (even the river once) – you name it, he’ll crawl in it.

It’s currently winter so we’ve been driving around during nap time quite often. I get a little peace & quiet, have both hands free for the camera and Theo has a break from destroying the house. Win, win!

We usually drive down past the local Estuary to a small wetland patch that a cheeky little Heron calls home (I will get a decent picture of you one day!), spend a while taking some snaps and then sneak on over to the river landing.

On Monday I was on the way home from our usual drive when I spotted a small group of my favourite Finches darting through the long grass – The Red-browed Firetail Finch. I was so excited!

As I pulled the car over I saw one laying still on the road. I checked – still alive. The poor thing.

I couldn’t see any wounds, but it couldn’t walk or fly. It was most likely clipped by a passing car, and could have just been stunned. I scooped the little bird up and took it home to monitor in a quiet, dark room for an hour or two.

Two hours passed and there was still no improvement besides a little bit of extra movement and the occasional eye opening. It’s breathing was quite laboured and due to the lack of recovery it was clear to us that it wasn’t stunned.

I called our local wildlife rescue group for advice on who to contact about injured native birds in the area and spoke to a lovely lady who offered to take the little Finch for the night and track down a specialist.

I don’t know what happened to the Firetail after that. I don’t have high hopes and I can’t bring myself to find out for sure. I’ve always held native wildlife close to my heart and every time I happen upon the injured, no matter how big or small, it’s still quite upsetting.

I will cherish this experience for ever.