Yesterday I attempted to rescue two juvenile swiftlets that were discovered in a drain surrounding my house.
I made a temporary bird house for the birds with a strainer and some grass then left the birds in the house overnight, hoping to keep them off the ground away from land based predators and in the hope that mummy bird might come back for them and feed them.
One of the birds was totally incapable of flying while the other one could fly only slightly.
This morning, I checked the nest again and it was empty. I looked around the bottom of the mango tree in which the house was hung but didn’t see any birds.
I eventually found one of the birds back in the drain, while the other one was nowhere to be found.
The more mobile bird has no problems posing for photos and seems content in the drain, as that’s where it was first found. I considered putting it back in the nest I’d made but I thought it might just try to escape again like a naughty school boy.
My fear was that it may rain heavily, at any minute, and that a tropical downpour might drown the bird who appears incapable of escaping the drain on it’s own, so I put a plank of wood in the drain which it might be able to use to climb out if necessary.
I still can’t find the more lame bird.
I’m assuming the bird returned to the drain because it’s relatively cool and damp.
kieranblakewriter 