We are very pleased to be allied with a very caring and
capable animal rehabber on Cayman Brac. He is called just "Foots" aka
The Bird Man, and has been doing the bird rescues on Cayman
Brac for years. He will also now be assisting with bat house
construction and roof-bat exclusions on the Brac.
From the Cayman Net News, August 18, 2006 - Bird Man of
Cayman Brac -
Foots aka The Bird Man of Cayman Brac feeds fish to a ravenous
young White-Tailed Tropicbird which he has been taking care
of since he found him nearly three months ago. The bird had
fallen from its hole on the Brac and too young to fly, without
Foots' help, the bird would not have survived.
Twice a day, Brac sculptor Foots becomes a mother Tropicbird.
His squawking offspring sits ready to be fed, and at his
beckoning, waddles over on its black webbed feet to his outstretched
hand.
Foots, a long-time Brac resident, scoops up his baby and,
much to its delight, proceeds to stuff small pieces of raw
fish down its throat. In between bites, a lot of raucous
hungry-bird noise issues from the beak of the juvenile White-tailed
Tropicbird.
It's almost three months since Foots picked up
the then much smaller bird from the edge of the road where
it had fallen, and he's been taking care of it ever since.
The Tropicbirds, also known in the Cayman Islands as bosun
birds, make their nests in small holes on the Bluff edge,
and lay one egg in them.
Once the fledgling hatches and reaches a size where it can
move around, it will occasionally fall out of the hole down
onto the flats beneath.
Unfortunately, the birds are too young to fly, and it is
virtually impossible to find the nesting holes from which
they have fallen.
And that's how they often end up with Mama Foots.
"We've got to give them a chance," he
said, pushing another lump of fish down the bird's throat.
"They are God's creatures, and
when they are hurt we need to take care of them."
Foots pointed out that he has no trouble getting raw fish
to feed the bird, as Brackers like Herbert Foster will always
give him enough to keep going.
He said he cannot count the number of times he has picked
up different kinds of birds at the side of the road that
have been hit by cars.
Ninety-five per cent of the time they've
just been stunned and just need to be cared for for 15
or 20 minutes. Then they're as good as new and just fly
off," Foots added.
Not so the baby Tropicbird, however. It needs constant,
daily attention in its very own storage-shed nest. Its parents
and other kin can still be seen swooping over the Brac in
graceful aerobatics, their long tails trailing behind them.
But they will soon be leaving for the winter and the long
months they spend out over the open ocean, fishing and feeding,
before they head back to the Brac in January.
According to Patricia Bradley's Birds
of the Cayman Islands, the pure-white adult Tropicbirds
are like boobies: "They
dive to catch fish and squid and are frequently chased and
robbed by Frigatebirds on their return to land."
Another of Foots's rescued birds is a Red-footed Booby which
he nursed back to health after it was injured. Once it was
healed it flew off, but it regularly returns to Foots's house
to perch on the roof edge and, presumably, check on its surrogate
mama.
Tino, as Foots has named the baby Tropicbird, may or may
not be ready to join the adults later this month.
His long tail feathers have just begun to grow and hopefully
will be long enough for winter flight.
However, as Foots pointed out, he still has to learn to
feed himself - an activity normally supervised by the parent
birds.
As for Foots, he is prepared to take care of Tino for as
long as is necessary until he is able to fend for himself.
"I've looked after animals since I was a kid," he
said. "I've always said animals are a gift of God to
us, and we need to appreciate that. If anyone finds a bird
like Tino that has been hurt or orphaned, then just bring
him to me and I'll take care of him."
Foots is also an accomplished artist who is working on a
monumental underwater attraction for Cayman Brac. See his
website, the New
Atlantis and
read the Cayman Net News April 3, 2007 ( "click < here >
"). |
