Carlyn treats feathered friends on the fly

No task is too arduous for Toti bird lover Carlyn Hattingh when it comes to rehabilitating her feathered friends.

Carlyn (27) has been caring for injured wild birds since she was small.

“I found an injured baby Indian mynah when I was at Amanzimtoti Primary School and looked after it,” she said. The little bird survived and that started her love for caring for injured birds.

“My mom hand-reared doves, so I grew up around pets. I think I had more animals than friends when I was growing up.

Throughout high school my mom would look after my ‘patients’ during the day.

I also bred crabs and chameleons.”

News of Carlyn’s work with injured avian spread through social media and she was soon inundated with calls to help whenever someone found an injured bird in Toti.

She has even recently come to the rescue of a rabbit who was attacked by neighbourhood dogs. All these expenses come out of her own pocket.

“I do what I can. I haven’t studied in this field, although I have thought about studying veterinarian science. But I prefer working with wild birds – I don’t like the idea of cages.”

Carlyn would stabilise a ‘patient’ and take it to the Centre for Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) so often, they eventually asked her to become a depot for them.

She once successfully stitched a dove’s crop after it had flown into a window and dogs got hold of it. The dove survived. Carlyn and her husband Simon made shoes from a butter lid for an Indian mynah baby that had crippled feet. Often her previous ‘patients’ come to visit their ‘nurse’, begging for titbits.

“I prefer working with babies, because adult birds normally die of stress when you handle them.”

Carlyn, an SPCA volunteer, currently shares her house with four dogs, two cockatiels, two mouse birds which CROW gave her that cannot be released, and two pet rats.

She loves horse riding and the outdoors.

If you find an injured bird, Carlyn suggests contacting CROW on 031-462-1127 or email info@crowkzn.co.za.