Six kestrel chicks which were rescued by the RSPCA have been returned to the wild

Six kestrel chicks which were rescued after their mum was injured and unable to take care of them have now been released back into the wild.

The chicks were rescued from Saughall Massie, on the Wirral, after a resident monitoring the nest box in the area noticed the mother was struggling to feed her six chicks.

She could see the mother bird was jumping out of the nest box but was unable to fly so was struggling to feed her hungry chicks. It is understood the male bird left the area.

She alerted the RSPCA and the mother and chicks were taken to the animal welfare charity’s Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre near Nantwich.

Dedicated staff at the centre were then given the job of feeding the demanding young chicks four times a day.

The mother bird was found to have three fractures in her wing and sadly the decision was made to put her to sleep to end her suffering.

Lee Stewart, centre manager at Stapeley Grange, said: “When we have kestrel chicks of this age admitted to the hospital and where we know there are no parents left, our first thought is always whether we can return the chicks to the area and put them into a wild kestrel nests where there are chicks of a similar age.  

“Timing has to be perfect and you have to have the support of a fully licensed British Trust for Ornithology ringer and on this occasion everything seemed to fall into place.  

“So, just five days after arriving at the hospital and once signed off by the team the chicks were returned to the area and distributed into a number of wild nests.  These nests will be monitored regularly now by the BTO ringer who put them back.   This is a perfect outcome for our orphans who will now be reared by wild foster parents.”

For more information about what to do if you find a baby bird struggling visit the RSPCA website here

You can find out more about the work of Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre here and to donate to the centre you can visit their Wildlife JustGiving page here 

To help the RSPCA keep helping animals like these kestrels, and to keep animal hospitals and centres running for emergency treatment, and round the clock care through these unprecedented times, please donate whatever you can spare at rspca.org.uk/covid