Kevin the Kestrel on the road to recovery
A NASTY fall left Kevin the Kestrel with a broken leg and the odds stacked against him as he lay vulnerable on the floor of a St Albans woodland.
But the injured baby bird, who is only thought to be around four weeks old, was scooped up by a member of the public who took him to Tiggywinkles wildlife hospital in Aylesbury where he is now fighting his way back to health.
Vets used an improvisational technique to mend his little leg using a hypodermic needle and tiny pieces of metal held with plastic, before bandaging it up and finishing it off with a funky purple gauze.
He was found on July 6 in a St Albans woodland but the precise location is unknown.
Hospital founder Les Stocker said: “He is a young kestrel, only about four weeks old and he was found on the floor in a woodland. It looks like he had fallen out of his nest and had broken his leg. Somebody picked him up and brought him up to us.
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“He couldn’t use his leg so what the vets done is, rather than just splinting it, they put various bits of metal work in as a temporary fixture which will stay in there until the leg is mended.”
It will take around two to three weeks for Kevin’s leg to mend but Les said he is already using it to grab his food and putting a little bit of pressure on it.
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Les said: “He is sprightly, a real little character. He is doing very well and is eating well, but he has a strop on all the time.
“They are wonderful little birds and we’re really pleased with how he is doing, he is going great guns.”
And in a couple of weeks, when the chick has grown some more feathers, he will be put with another baby kestrel that came into the centre this week.
As Kevin’s temperamental character started to emerge, staff at the animal hospital began wondering if he could be female.
But in the meantime, he will remain as Kevin and will hopefully be released in six week’s time from the animal hospital. Les added: “We will release him from here as they are not territorial in the wild. We will let him know there is food here so he can go and come back.”
