It was late one afternoon when the call came for a northern flicker being attacked by ravens. When we met the couple who had picked it up, the question to the bird was: “What were your parents thinking?”
This was a young bird just out of the nest, on Halloween! Back at Powell River Orphaned Wildlife Society (PROWLS), the very young and terrified bird was put in a small, covered kennel that simulated his nest, with a piece of bark for him to hang on and water and food.
Two hours later, he was still standing motionless. PROWLS founder Merrilee Prior gently picked him up and dipped his beak in the water, and after a few seconds he began to drink, and drink, and drink some more. Then Merrilee dipped his beak in the food dish and waited for him to pick up a morsel. Success!
For the next few days, he spent his time eating and sleeping. He learned to call for more food if he emptied his dish, and gradually started to tentatively peck at the bark. Once his feathers were almost complete, he was moved into an outdoor flight cage, where he realized he could fly quite well.
The next step was the large flight cage, with a few other birds. He is now just waiting for the last of his body feathers to come in (his head is still baby fuzzy), and he will go back to his own neighbourhood, strong, healthy and very raven savvy.
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