A life given 

19 May A life given 

Since the dawn of time, people have envied birds that they can rise above what is around them. Already Leonardo Da Vinci created designs for flying machines. Each of us has had moments when we would like to break away from the gray everyday life, forget about problems. Fly over the beautiful Ponidzie, get carried away by the currents and whirls of air that lift the hang gliders. Glide over the lazily flowing, wild Nida River. Rise above the tallest trees and church steeples. Fly towards the setting sun. Rise like Icarus in mythology until the river is just a ribbon of blue and the forests covering the surrounding hills a dark stain.

Now imagine what a bird can feel when it suddenly loses its ability to fly as an adult. A moment of inattention is enough. The broken wing makes it impossible for the animal to run away from danger. Often, along with losing the ability to fly, it loses the ability to obtain food.

What can such a living being feel? Certainly hunger, thirst, pain, fever, fear …

What might be waiting for him? Slow death by starvation or by the fangs, claws or beak of a predator: a cat, dog, fox, owl, marten, birds of prey.

We do not know what happened to the rook running with a broken wing under the cars in Pińczów, on one of the streets of the Grodzisko estate. It is not known how long this condition lasted. It is known that the injured bird fled to the farthest corners under the cars. He hid in the darkest places, he wanted to be invisible. It was exhausted.

Suddenly, rescue came from the side that the animal least expected. He was helped by a man, or actually a few “little people” – pupils from Primary School No. 1 in Pińczów. The students did not pay attention to the fact that a bird that does not know their good intentions may peck in self-defense. The rook was captured and handed over to a ZŚiNPK employee, whom the children knew from lectures and excursions.

The sick animal received veterinary help, and then was transported to the Bird Asylum “Ptakolub”, where Pan Tadeusz Ptak will take professional care of it.

The rook will probably not fly anymore, but it will live its days in peace. These sociable birds like to live in a group, so it will have other representatives of the crow family (incl. jackdaw or a raven, for example, a very rare little bittern, a young tawny owl, black and white storks, kestrel, red kite still live.

Thanks to it, young people will be able to observe the differences between representatives of the crow family: jackdaws, crows, magpies, raven and rook during trips. The latter are particularly interesting observations. It is one of the few birds that can handle or even manufacture tools. They learn new things, they can break a hard nut by throwing it from tall trees onto the pavement or by placing it under the wheels of cars parked in the parking lot.

A tour of the Birds’ Sanctuary is an amazing lesson. Here, the young man meets a true nature lover who donates his time and skills for other living beings. In addition to recognizing individual species and acquiring knowledge about their habitats, the participant becomes sensitive to someone’s harm. Thanks to this, in the future, these children will help other living creatures which will need help. Or maybe even to another person?