Home away from home for these Yellow Billed Babbler chicks

Sangareddy: A plant nursery in Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh that also served as a ‘nursery’ for three Yellow Billed Babbler chicks, ‘transported’ the little birds to Hyderabad, 500 km away.

In a heart-warming ending that also had a touch of tragedy, the chicks, all of them in healthy condition, are now safely lodged at a shelter in Ameenpur in the district. The tragic part, however, is that the 10-day old chicks will never get to see their mother.

The chicks’ unintended separation from their mother began when a corporate house placed an order with the Rajahmundry nursery for supply of medium sized plants. The plants were loaded on to a DCM van without realising that one of the bags housed the birds’ nest.

Speaking to Telangana Today, Ch Raju, the security supervisor at the corporate house based in Nanakramguda, said they found the three fledglings in a plant bag while unloading the saplings. A kind-hearted man, Raju immediately called up the helpline of Animal Warriors Conservation Society (AWCS), known for rescuing wildlife in and around Hyderabad.

AWCS founder Pradeep Nair immediately rushed a rescuer to collect the chicks and they were brought to AWCS’s shelter home at Ameenpur.

Nair told Telangana Today that the chicks were healthy. “Since mealworms are considered healthy food for them, we have started collecting them apart from feeding them other insects,” he said.

“Since nurseries have enough water and insects, the Babbler must have built a nest in the nursery bag that resulted in the separation of the chicks from their mother. Unaware of the presence of the chicks in the bag, the labourers would have loaded the saplings onto the truck,” he said, adding that the chicks will be released into the wild once they attain maturity.

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