The saga of the Blue-winged Kookaburra
In early February a truck travelling from North Queensland to Brisbane arrived at Rocklea to find a Blue-winged Kookaburra lodged in the front grille of the truck and was miraculously still alive.
The truck driver contacted Tara Hunter at Wildcare South-East Queensland which is a 24-hour wildlife emergency service.
After examination by a vet the bird was found to have a fractured clavicle and missing tail but able to be rehabilitated and was then taken to a rehab facility in Canungra. It was found to be a female and given the name Topaz.
In due course and after several weeks the bird made a full recovery and Tara was then left with the problem of where to release it.
Nothing was known about where the bird became lodged in the grille of the truck so the decision had to be about releasing it within the known range of the species and also in a location which had qualified wildlife carers with a pre-release aviary.
Tara contacted me and asked if BirdLife Capricornia could help out.
I contacted Tony and Louise Longson who are members of BirdLife Capricornia and are also qualified wildlife carers in Gladstone with secure aviaries and facilities.
Tony and Louise then contacted Tara and arrangements were made with the initial plan to transport the bird via road transport. Tara talked to the RSPCA Wacol Animal Care Centre and got approval from the senior vet as well as the senior wildlife officer at the Queensland Government Department of Environment and Science who also gave approval.
One of the wildlife carers, Jodie Jones, had an appointment in Brisbane and decided to collect Topaz and drive her back to Gladstone. When Topaz arrived she was put into a pre-release aviary to settle in before release.
After a couple of weeks Topaz was making good progress so Tony and Louise started to think about a release location.
The Clearview Christian College, a new school at Tannum Sands that was near to Canoe Point Reserve and a known population of Blue-winged Kookaburra was thought to be an ideal location. Louise had a meeting with the school principal who was very enthusiastic about the idea.
Subsequently a temporary net enclosure was erected in the school grounds where there was plenty of shade and the students were not allowed unless accompanied by staff.
The school commented that, “Soon after she was placed there, two local Kookaburras visited her and interacted with her.”
Finally it was time to release Topaz back to the wild.
She had recovered to the point where she was a healthy bird once again and able to hunt for food and find water.
The release took place on 14 March and Topaz flew to a nearby tree and opened her bill wide as if to say thank you before flying off into the bush.
