FIREFIGHTERS TO THE RESCUE
Tangled starling pulled to safety
Bird lovers are optimistic a young Windsor starling is on the road to recovery after it caused a downtown commotion Wednesday afternoon, triggering a rescue response from the humane society and then the Windsor Fire and Rescue Services.
As birds go, starlings may be dime-a-dozen common, and perhaps even unloved by some, but any creature in distress should be helped, said Windsor/Essex Humane Society executive director Melanie Coulter.
Passersby noticed a young bird struggling with what appeared to be a ball of string or wire wrapped around its feet in a nest several floors above street level and just below the roof of the former Pour House on Chatham Street West. What appeared to be the mother could be seen flying around, frantically trying to free the tangled-up youngster.
“People could see he was struggling,” said Coulter. “It’s hard for a lot of people to see an animal suffering and say, ‘I don’t care.’ ”
The humane society was alerted, and by mid-afternoon it had solicited the assistance of an aerial ladder crew to launch a rescue operation. The feathered victim, which appeared to be able to move both feet, was then delivered to the Wings Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Amherstburg.
“It’s nice to see when people are able to help,” said Coulter.
She said some nest makers use any kind of material they deem suitable as building material. As the eggs hatch and the babies grow, “material like string can be problematic,” said Coulter, adding the material in question appeared to be uncoiled magnetic cassette tape.
Starlings, non-native to North America, are now present in the millions and are good at feasting on bugs that can be a problem for farmers. They’re monogamous and great vocal mimics, able to copy the sounds of other birds.