A cedar waxwing bird is recovering at a wildlife centre south of Parksville after its wings were deliberately clipped, leaving it in pain and unable to fly properly.
The bird was found this month at a bistro in Qualicum Beach, where observers said it appeared to have something wrong with its wings.
Joanna Smith, animal care coordinator at the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre, said the restaurant staff who called the centre reported that the bird seemed friendly with people.
Smith said that the bird’s comfort around people and clipped wings suggest that it was likely being kept by someone trying to domesticate it.
“I’ll never understand how someone can harm another being,” she said, adding that bird wings have nerves, and cutting them can be painful and stressful.
She said the bird’s treatment involves physical therapy, during which it will have to practice flying to prevent its wing muscles from atrophying. The goal is to restore the bird’s wild instincts so it is no longer dependent on human help.
The annual moulting season for cedar waxwings has just begun, so if the bird hasn’t moulted yet, it might be able to replenish the shortened wings and be released in a few months, said Smith.
If it has already moulted, she said it might have to be kept at the centre to recover for another year.
The bird is being kept in a rehabilitation enclosure with two other cedar waxwings who were orphaned earlier this year, and Smith said the three are keeping each other company.
Smith said she’s never seen a wild bird with cut wings before, and said she hopes the incident can serve as a lesson for people to learn how debilitating it can be.
Cedar waxwings are one of Smith’s favourite birds, not only because of their beauty, but because they are “social and sweet” animals who contribute to the ecosystem by eating and digesting berries.
“They look like a watercolour painting,” she said.
