Twitch's Treasures

"What's yours is mine, and what's mine is mine."

       -Twitch

Yup, that pretty much sums up Twitch the common grackle's motto. In the 4 months that I've been fostering him I have found that if he has something and you try to even touch it, you will suffer the pointy, stabby beak of Twitch. And if you have something and he wants it, kiss it goodbye (and also suffer the pointy, stabby beak). 

Twitch resides in my office, and when I'm working on my computer or doing other desk work, I usually let him out to get some exercise. He spends a lot of time on top of my monitor singing at me, watching what I'm doing, and bouncing off of the top of my head. But Twitch and his big brain has learned something: the human has interesting and often tasty things at her desk. It started one day with the little green foamy frog you see in the photo above. For 3 years, that cute little frog has lived on the upper left corner of my monitor. Until one day when Twitch decided to remove it, take it back to his cage, immediately decapitate it, and then play with the carcass.

You see how at the end Twitch puts his beak in the air? That's how male grackles assert their dominance. It's common to see two grackles at a bird feeder, beaks in the air, seeming to see who can put their beak the highest in some sort of snobbery contest. 

Well later I got a bit of revenge, when I put a new frog on my monitor in the same place, knowing it would be irresistible to the feathered fiend. But what Twitch didn't know is since this was a new frog, the adhesive on the back of the sticker would be quite sticky. Yes...quite sticky indeed.

Twitch is twitching in this video because he had just taken a bath and was all wet.

Sadly, that was the last time I got the upper hand. Twitch has learned to raid my lunch breaks, helping himself to whatever he can find.

Why did Twitch have to eat the Wheat Thin on my keyboard? I'm going to be picking out cracker pieces for months. Twitch figured out that if he wants to be able to keep his stolen goods, he'd better get it back to his cage, and fast. Now whenever Twitch finds something he likes, which I call "treasures", he immediately flies off with it, usually back to his cage for further processing. How he selects his treasures is somewhat of a mystery, but I do know he likes novelty.

Another day his treasure was a rubber band:

Earlier this week it was a glass marble. Amazing he could fly around with something that heavy for over 5 minutes!

Twitch has become so grabby with things, that I think I'm going to have to ban him from having lunch with me. This is what transpired today.

The last time I banned Twitch from eating lunch with me, he just sat there in his cage, staring at me upside down like this:

It's like he's trying to trick me into taking him out again by being ridiculously weird and adorable. 

And it works.

Yes, for as much of pain as Twitch can be with all his grabby, stealy, bitey, stabby, antics, it still greatly amuses me. He may be a punk, but I love him to death. 

There is one message that I want you all to take away from this blog full of cute and funny videos. I'm sure many people who read this will think "How fun is it to have him in your office?! I wish I had a smart and sassy bird like that!" Yes, Twitch may have a big brain that gets him into all sorts of trouble, but his big brain should be in the wild. Remember, Twitch is only in my office because he was taken from his family as a baby and kept as a pet in a tiny, cramped cage, suffering from malnutrition for 7 long years. He shouldn't be using his brain to steal fortune cookies, frogs, and marbles, he should be using his brain to find bugs and seeds underneath leaves, teach his chicks how to forage, and figure out how to best torment crows and hawks. The best place to observe wild animals is not on the internet, but in the wild.

Extreme Makeover: Grackle Edition

Last month, I brought you the story of a common grackle that was kept illegally as a pet for 7 years by a well-intentioned gentleman who mistook the bird for an orphan. The bird was kept in a tiny cage, with access to water only in a coffee cup (which meant he could not bathe), and an improper diet. This left his feathers tattered and dull and his beak and nails overgrown. He also never achieved his adult yellow eye color, which may be an indication of thyroid issues. When I last left you, the grackle had been brought to the Schuylkill Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic for some much needed medical attention.

Mr. Nature Geek and I went to visit the grackle (whom we named "Twitch" due to his constant movement) a few days later and were able to get him to perch on our arms and shoulders. We also offered him what could have been his first bath ever. I put a pan of water on a table, and with Twitch on my arm, splashed in the water with my fingers. Twitch knew just what to do! He immediately hopped in and went absolutely berzerk, flapping his wings and scooting around in the water like a little motorboat. When his bath was over, the water was cloudy and littered with frayed feathers. Twitch was one happy bird. 

In the month that followed, my friend and clinic rehabber Michele, would send me updates and let me come and visit Twitch to see his progress. He underwent a massive molt, replacing all of his tail feathers at once and most of his wing feathers. Thanks to his new spacious housing and natural diet of mealworms, seeds, fruit, and a little cat food for extra nutrients, Twitch's new feathers were as gorgeous as nature intended. 

So how is he doing today? You be the judge:

Yup, Twitch is doing pretty well these days. He has moved out of the clinic and is being fostered by me at Briar Bush. In just one weekend, Twitch went from being a fearful bird who did not want to stray far from his human companions to an independent, pain in the butt, and I wouldn't have it any other way. And just for a reminder of how far he's come, take a look at these before and after shots:

Hello Mr. Twitch, you fine lookin' grackle you. And he's not even done molting yet! Once all of his old feathers have been replaced, he'll be even more beautiful and he'll be able to fly (I think he's a pain now, just wait until he can fly away from me and not just run!) So what's next for Twitch? We're trying to find a good home for him either at another nature center or at an aviary, where he can live out his days in comfort. Either way, he's got some of the best days of his life ahead of him and is never going to look back.

The Cost of Wildlife as Pets

Working in my job, I get to interact with a variety of incredible animals. On a daily basis I can talk to a tortoise, converse with a corn snake, vocalize with a vulture, and chat with a chinchilla. I also am able to observe the wild animals that dwell on the property of the nature center. But it's not always fun and happy stories. This week was one of those harder days. 

I received a call about an elderly gentleman who was getting ready with his wife to move from their home of 30+ years into an assisted living facility and needed to find a home for his pet bird. Only this was no parrot or canary, this was a grackle, a wild songbird native to much of the United States. I was told the man had found it as a baby and decided to raise it himself and keep it as a pet. I was unsure what I would find when I walked into the house, but had prepared myself for both the best and the worst. 

What I found when I walked into the kitchen was this:

Here was a bird that was born in the wild, and had spent the 7 years of his life in this small, dirty cage. The gentleman thought he was doing the right thing, he had found the bird young and alone and thought it was abandoned or orphaned. He cared for the bird, gave it a home, and food and water. Unfortunately, the cage was too small, and there was no place in the cage where the bird could turn around without brushing his feathers against the metal bars. In addition, although the man knew that grackles are omnivores and need both animal protein and plant-based foods in his diet, instead of eating insects and seeds, the grackle was fed fruit, canned beans, scrambled eggs, and spam. All of this took a toll on the grackle's body and a bird that should look like this:

instead looked like this:

The malnutrition, cramped cage, and inability to bathe (his water was offered in a coffee mug) left his feathers tattered, oily, and dull. 

When we find a wild animal, it's easy to fantasize about how neat it would be to have that animal as a pet in our home. But before you take home that baby bird, rabbit, or box turtle you just scooped up in your hands, take a moment to think about it from the animal's side. If you keep that animal as a pet, it will never return to its home, it will never find a mate, and never rear young. And for some species like the eastern box turtle, whose numbers are in decline, the loss of even one breeding adult can have a significant impact on local populations. Instead of taking an animal into your home, perhaps instead think of ways you can support the animal in its home. You could turn your backyard into a wildlife habitat (look for ideas here, here, and here!), support a national organization like The Nature Conservancy or your local nature center (like Briar Bush!) through donations or by volunteering. Keeping wild animals wild is the only way to ensure we continue to be inspired, amazed, and comforted by their presence for years to come.

So what happened to the grackle? He was taken to the Schuylkill Center Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic (another great cause to donate to!) where he was given a larger cage and a proper diet. There it is hoped that he will molt his tattered old feathers and replace them with the feathers that will return him to his natural beauty. Because he has been in captivity for so long he cannot be released into the wild, but he will be given a good quality of life under the care of knowledgeable professionals. He just may come to live with me at Briar Bush once he's healthy enough and teach others about helping wild animals in their own homes.

For more information on what you should do if you find a wild animal that you think needs help, read my post, "Oh Baby!"